The Marauders Era
by Marauder Mistress
Summary: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew are seventh years at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So is a certain witch; Lily Evans. This is the tale of the three Animagi, the Werewolf and of James' attempts to win Lily's heart.
1. Chapter 1

'Lils! Lils, guess what!'

'What, Alice?' Lily said, turning with irritation. It was late and she only had another two inches to write on her Potions essay. Lily's icy expression melted at the sight of her ecstatic, round faced friend. 'Sorry. I... I'm just tired. What happened?'

If she had been placed in one of the other houses, she would never have met her best friend, Alice Prewett. Alice was a pure-blood witch, and Lily was a muggle-born, but that didn't matter to either of them, and it never had.

'Frank!' the other girl squealed, 'He just asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him this weekend!' In one of the plush armchairs by the fire, Frank, red faced, was beaming at Alice's excitement.

'Oh Alice! That's great!' Lily smiled, but she was already writing again. She was happy for her friend, but she really wanted to finish her essay.

'You don't seem very happy,' Alice muttered, looking put out.

'I am! Alice, I am! It's just... this stupid essay, and I'm nearly finished.' Lily grimaced, 'It's not due until Friday, but I have duty tomorrow night and...' Alice held up a hand.

'Lils, don't you ever think you might be working too hard?'

'Finally, someone who agrees with me!' said a boy, who flopped down onto a chair across from Lily. Alice sighed and walked off. Lily wanted to go with her.

There were only three things that Lily didn't like about Gryffindor; Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter. To her annoyance, all three of them were there now.

'I always agree with you Prongs,' said Sirius, a tall boy with long black hair and grey eyes. He looked offended, but the mischievous glint in his eyes told Lily otherwise.

'No, Paddy, you don't. Remember this morning, when I said that I lov...' To Lily's amazement James blushed. 'Never mind.'

'What do you want, Potter?' Lily asked icily.

Sirius waggled a finger, 'Manners, Lillian,' Lily felt her face redden at the use of her full name. 'You didn't say hello to me or Wormy.'

'Hello, Black,' Lily's emerald gaze flicked to Peter, a short watery eyed boy with mousy hair, '...Wormy.' James laughed.

'That wasn't so hard,' Sirius said, looking pleased.

'Paddy,' Sirius and James shared a look. Lily watched, torn between annoyance and amusement as Sirius seized Peter's arm and marched him away from Lily's table.

'What do you want, James?' Shock covered Lily's face when she realised she had called him by his first name. 'I mean Potter.' James' hazel eyes lit up.

'Evans, Evans, Evans... May I call you Lily?' he asked, running a hand through his messy black hair.

'No, you may not,' the girl answered stiffly.

'Oh,' James' almost perpetual smile disappeared. 'Well then...Evans,' Lily hid her surprise at finding he had listened to her. 'I was wondering if...' Lily had a fairly good idea where this was going. James Potter had asked her to go out with him every day since second year. Every day except today. Not that Lily kept count.

'If what?' Lily sighed. She gave up on her essay and looked at him instead.

'If you would accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend? Word of mouth is that Alice is abandoning you.' Lily frowned as she realised he was right. She had been so intent on her homework she had not stopped to consider the implications.

'I don't like you, Potter! How many times do I have to tell you! I realise now that your enormous head cannot possibly be deflated without removing some of your thick skull! Let me make this very clear to you, Potter, I'd rather go alone than with you!' Lily snapped.

'Lies!' Sirius bellowed from across the room. He was, as always, coming to the rescue of his best friend. The few Gryffindors left in the common room looked at him in surprise. Lily did too, and realised she had been yelling.

Head hanging, James shuffled off to the boy's dormitory stairs and disappeared. Lily felt a twinge of guilt, knowing that their Head Boy and Girl duties would likely be uncomfortable tomorrow. She shook her head. How an arrogant toe-rag like Potter had ever been made Head Boy astounded her. She was sure Dumbledore was going senile in his old age.

'Thanks a lot,' Sirius said gloomily, appearing next to her. As far as Lily was concerned, anything that made Sirius upset was a good thing.

'You're welcome,' Lily said pleasantly, 'Though might I ask what I've done?'

'You turned James down. Again. Thanks to you, Remmy, Pete and I will have to listen to Prongs mope for Merlin knows how long.'

'He'll get over it,' Lily said, pulling a strand of her red hair away from her face.

Sirius looked at her for a long moment, before shaking his head slightly and following after James.


	2. Chapter 2

'Morning, Evans,' James called, trying not to show how upset he had been by yet another rejection. It wasn't that she said no, or perhaps it was, but when she insulted him, and yelled at him, it hurt. To him, it didn't seem like she even had a reason.

'Potter.' She didn't even look up from her plate of eggs, but her hand did tighten on her goblet of pumpkin juice.

James seated himself between Remus and Sirius. Though he didn't say anything, Remus Lupin was looking gaunter than usually, due to the impending full moon.

'And how are you this fine morning, Prongs?' James elbowed his best friend in the ribs, pulling a face.

'Shut it Padfoot.' James had barely slept the night before. Things like sleep eluded him most nights – nights he had been rejected by Lily. Instead, he spent hours thinking of how to ask her next time, how to gain her approval, her attention. James was bright – one of the smartest in the year along with Sirius, Remus, and of course, Lily – but despite years of late night ponderings, he was no closer to winning her over.

'I'm just concerned for your mental wellbeing, Jamsie –'

'Padfoot.' Usually, Remus would not bother to interfere with James and Sirius' verbal provocations. James, not in the mood to bicker with his almost-brother, was grateful for the Werewolf's intervention.

'Where's Wormy?' Sirius asked, pushing food around his overcrowded plate. He scooped up a large fork load of scrambled eggs and shovelled them into his mouth. James shrugged. 'Moony?' Remus shook his head. Sirius brought his fork down onto the table with a loud thump. Several people glanced around, and seeing who it was, rolled their eyes and went back to their breakfasts.

'I'm bored,' Sirius whined. Remus rolled his eyes. 'Prongs! What are we going to do today?' James smiled, a speculative look coming into his eye.

'Prongs, Padfoot! It's Thursday! We have lessons!' Neither James nor Sirius looked worried by this. Remus sighed, scooped his things into his bad and left the two dark haired seventh years at the table. 'Whatever you're planning,' he called behind him, 'I want no part in it.' Sirius shook his head.

'Where did we go wrong with him? He had such potential.' James nodded and the two of them dissolved into fits of laughter. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Still grinning he turned to face...Lily.

'Potter, Black.'

'Lillian,' Sirius said gravely. James snickered and then recoiled from her poisonous glare.

'Whatever you're planning –'

'Who said we're planning anything?' Sirius said indignantly.

'When are you not?' She turned to face James, 'James... Potter, you're Head Boy. You're not allowed to pull pranks anymore. It sets the wrong example to the other students.' Eyes fixed on her face, James nodded.

'Prongs!' Sirius exclaimed, 'Don't listen to her! She's a witch!' James laughed, and Lily even smiled a little, apparently unable to help herself. 'Quickly, Prongs, we must get away! Your sense of humour must be saved, before it is too late!' Sirius cried, leaping to his feet.

Laughing, Sirius and James fled from the Great Hall. James was sure he heard Lily's laugh pealing out behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

'How can you take him seriously?' Lily asked, as she and James walked down the Transfiguration corridor. They were stuck on duty together for the next few hours, so she had decided to try to be cordial. Or at least not yell at him. She still felt guilty about the night before.

'You just don't know him,' James said defensively. His tone caught Lily's attention. She had never thought of James as loyal, though as she thought about it, it became quite obvious that he was.

'Then explain him.' Lily had learned early that she could tell a lot about a person from their friends. She didn't have to like James, but at least understanding him would be beneficial during their duty hours. She hoped it might make him easier to deal with.

'Explain Padfoot...' James shot her a quizzical look. She wondered whether he would tell her anything, after the way they had treated each other over the six years they had known each other. 'He's, well, he's like my brother. Ever since first year we've been friends. He's been unofficially living with me during holidays since second year, but last year, he moved in. He comes from a long line of Slytherins, so his parents weren't... happy about him being a Gryffindor.'

Lily already knew those things. Like her, Regulus Black was a member of 'The Slug Club', and often talked about family situations during meetings. In a way, he liked the spotlight as much as his older brother.

'What else. What about his personality?' James gave her a why-do-you-want-to-know-this look.

'With Sirius, what you see is what you get. That's all there is to it.'

'Okay... Where does the name 'Prongs' come from?' James stopped and looked at her.

'Why do you want to know about that?' Lily thought he sounded scared.

'Well I've already figured out 'Moony',' James froze, and went pale as one of the Hogwarts ghosts. 'It's from that prank, in third year, when... well... you know...' Colour returned to James' face.

'I suppose that one _is_ fairly obvious. But I'm not telling you anything about my nickname, or Sirius' or Pete's.' Lily pouted.

'That's not fair, Potter. I'm making an effort to be nice to you, and get to know you, and all you do is turn me down! You haven't even tried to get to know me!'

'Evans, stop yelling.' Lily blushed. 'If you really wanted to get to know me, then maybe you should go out with me...' James took a step away from Lily, who was furious. 'No. Well that's all right,' he said cheerfully. 'As for me getting to know you, there's no point, because I already do.'

Lily's eyes narrowed, 'You don't know the first thing about me.' James looked offended, and Lily almost felt bad. Almost.

'You're full name is Lillian Faye Evans, your father is Harry Evans, your mother is Amelia Evans. You have a sister, Petunia, who you love, but do not get on well with. Your favourite subjects are Charms Potions and Transfiguration. You try to make up for your muggle-born status by doing well in all of you subjects.

'When you leave school, you want to become a healer, to save some of the lives that would otherwise be lost in the war. You're afraid of the unknown, which is why you follow a strict schedule, and also why you like to learn. Your best friend is Alice, and the person you detest most at Hogwarts is me.' Lily's eyes widened. Without another word, James turned and stalked off, leaving Lily gaping after him.


	4. Chapter 4

Sirius was bored. He wished a Slytherin would somehow appear, so that he could hex them. Remus was studying, Peter was trying to, and James, his best friend, was upset over something. Sirius' guess was that something had happened while he and Lily were on duty. James, with an invisibility cloak at his dispense, was nowhere to be found.

'Hey, you!' Sirius flung out an arm and grabbed a skinny third year by the neck of his robes. 'Have you seen Pron- I mean James?'

The boy shook his head, looking scared out of his wits. Sirius wasn't surprised. His reputation as a Marauder preceded him. The third year scarpered off as soon a Sirius released him.

'Oi! Evans? You seen Prongs?' Sirius shouted across the common room. Everyone knew Sirius' voice, so no-one bothered to look up. Except Lily. Sirius thought she looked upset.

'No, Black. I haven't,' her tone was icy as ever, and her green eyes were flashing dangerously. Sirius tried not to look too put out. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his robes and strode out the portrait hole.

Once outside, in the creamy, marble halls of the seventh floor, he pulled out his wand.

Smiling a little to himself, he muttered, 'Accio James,' and then leant back against the walls to wait.


	5. Chapter 5

'All right,' Professor Hields said in a loud clear voice, 'Today, I will be teaching you the Patronus Charm. The incantation is 'Expecto Patronum', and it is used to keep away Dementors.' Lily had read about Patronuses, so she allowed herself to drift off, while Hields explained the theory to the rest of the class. Lily wondered what form hers would take.

'All right!' the grizzled Professor barked, 'Practise time. We will be using a Boggart. Line up, and while you wait for your turn, think of a happy memory.'

Lily slipped into line behind Remus who was muttering to himself.

'I have friends... they know and I still have friends. Yes, that's happy...'

'Hey Evans,' Lily turned to see James behind her, standing a little too close for her liking. Lily cocked an eyebrow. 'I need a happy memory. Kiss me?' Angry sparks shot from the end of Lily's wand. Sirius barked a laugh behind him, and clapped him on the shoulder.

'Nice try ,Prongs.' James turned to his friend.

'No nicknames, Sirius, not here, not if I'm right...' James said in a voice Lily could hardly hear.

Lily gave up on their banter, and instead focused on her own happy memory. She was torn between two; the day she got her letter, and the day she got her Head Girl badge. She decided on the first, because without it, the second option would not have been possible.

It was Remus' turn. Concentration was etched on his face, as he faced the Boggart-Dementor. He cried the incantation and a big wolf came flying out the end of his wand. Howling, it barged down the Dementor.

'Excellent!' Professor Hields cried, clapping his meaty hands together, 'Must be a strong memory you've got there, Lupin.' Remus grinned at James, Sirius and Peter as he made his way to the back of the line. Lily thought there was a knowing look in James' eyes.

Lily gulped as she stepped out in front of the class. She took deep breaths to calm herself, but they didn't do much. She felt cold as the Boggart emerged, and heavy despair which made it difficult to draw on her happy thought.

'Expecto Patronum,' she squeaked. Nothing happened. She started to panic. 'Expecto...Expe... Expecto Patronum!' Something definitely came out of her wand, but it was frail and unclear. Nothing like Remus' silver wolf. The Boggart brushed it aside and moved forward. 'No,' Lily said, upset, 'Expecto Patronum!' Her Patronus emerged again, clearer this time, and to her surprise, it was a doe. It charged the Boggart , and Lily felt a surge of pride.

Hields clapped for her too. As she turned, to head to the back of the class, she saw only two people. Sirius, who looked torn between wanting to dance and faint, and James, who looked as if he had found his happy memory. She laughed at his glazed expression. At the back of the line, Remus turned to her, eyes so wide she thought they were about to fall out.

'Lily, why is yours a doe?' She shrugged. She liked Remus, so him talking to her wasn't a problem.

'I don't know. I was surprised, but it worked, so I'm not complaining.' Remus nodded blankly.

'There's hope for you yet, Prongs,' he whispered to himself.

James Potter, like Remus, managed to get his Patronus to work instantly. It was a stag. Lily, dwelling on other thoughts, didn't give this much consideration. Sirius took a little longer to get his to work, but when he did, it was a big, shaggy dog.

The rest of the students had limited degrees of success and failure. Peter had a wisp of silver, that did very little, and left early to be taken to the hospital wing. Alice managed a horse, with a long silver mane. Lucius Malfoy's, to no-one's surprise, was a snake and Severus Snape succeeded in conjuring a doe, like Lily's. Lily didn't like that someone's Patronus was the same as hers, least of all that that someone was Severus, who had called Lily 'mudblood' in fifth year.

Hields dismissed the class early, saying very little. His hard gaze though, travelled from Lily, to James, to Severus, and back again. Lily was very glad to escape the room, and the teacher's scrutiny. She knew something was up, but didn't give it much thought, quickly becoming distracted by Alice's gossip.

James Potter brushed past her in the doorway to the Great Hall. She meant to glare at him, but couldn't manage it; he looked happier than he had in a long time, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she laughed; Sirius, looking like a fool, was dancing on his chair. That smile disappeared when she heard what he was singing loudly:

'Prongs was right! Lillian Evans loves James Potter! Evans loves James! Evans loves James!' he pointed a finger down at her, 'And you can't deny it! You love Prongs!' Blushing furiously, Lily dragged Sirius off of the chair.

'Detention, Black, for disrupting lunch! And, for your information, I do not 'love' Potter.'

'Ah, Lillian, deny it all you want but no-one will believe you.'

'But I don't,' Lily protested, hauling Sirius away from the table.

'Do you hate him?'

'Hate is a strong word...' she mused, 'No I don't hate him, but I don't particularly like him either.'

'That's an upgrade, Prongsie!' Sirius called. James, who had obviously heard everything, grinned. Remus and Peter were in hysterics.

'Walk, Black!' Lily growled, pulling him through the doorway.

'No, wait!' Surprised by the desperate note in his voice, Lily stopped. Sirius grinned. 'Accio sandwich!' A huge, sandwich floated off of the table and into Sirius' waiting hand. 'Wormy, Moony, Prongs, avenge me!'The three of them erupted into fits of laughter. 'All right,' Sirius said, spraying Lily with sandwich. 'Let us be off.'

He walked, with so much dignity, that one might have thought _Lily _was the one being escorted to detention.

'Two detentions, Black. One for interrupting lunch and one for using magic outside of lessons.'

Sirius shrugged, 'It was worth it.'


	6. Chapter 6

Lily was feeling quite exhausted. She had had three essays due that day, as well as a quiz in Transfiguration that Lily felt could have gone very well, or very badly. She had finished all of her homework so, had settled in front of the blazing hearth with a book.

Though she showed no signs of it, Lily was very aware that James kept looking in her direction. On any other night, she might have gone over and scolded him, but she was simply too tired to do so tonight.

Also unusual was that the Marauders were over in a corner of the common room doing nothing to win the attention of their fellow Gryffindors. Lily, sure that they were up to no good, strained to listen to their conversation.

'No, Wormy, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard,' Remus muttered.

'And that's saying something,' Sirius laughed.

'Moony, Padfoot,' James sounded exasperated. 'I actually think it's a great idea, Pete,' he said kindly. Peter blushed. 'I mean, imagine the potential!' Lily dared a quick look at the four. Sirius' grey eyes were glazed, as were James', Remus looked as if he were deep in thought, and Peter still looked shocked.

'It would be cool,' Sirius admitted, but I'm not sure that it's possible.' Both dark haired seventh years glanced at Remus.

'I don't know... I still think it's stupid though, imagine if the wrong person found it...'

'Isn't that the point?' Peter asked timidly. Remus laughed.

'It's worth a shot,' James said determinedly, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket. The other three nodded enthusiastically. Lily watched curiously as James spread the parchment out on the table they were hunched over. The four of them pulled out their wands.

'I think a memory charm will be best,' Sirius said thoughtfully. 'If we preserve something of our own personalities in the map, the insults or compliments will be more appropriate.'

'That's what I thought too,' Remus said nodding. Lily was utterly bewitched by the scene in the corner.

'The words need a trigger though,' James said, 'we can't just have it spurting out random words whenever it feels like it... I think if someone without the password tries to read it, it'll say something... I think I know a spell that should work... Listen up Wormtail.' Peter watched intently as James explained a spell to him, and showed him several complex wand movements. Lily, unable to hear the words, watched as intently as Peter.

'All together then?' Remus asked. James and Sirius nodded. The four Marauders muttered a spell that Lily couldn't hear. Four hazy, laughing figures drifted out of the tips of the wands, and melted into the parchment. Lily could tell that it was very, very complex magic.

'Now the ink,' Sirius said, taking an inkwell and upending it onto the parchment. 'Good... now we need a test subject...' he and James shared a conspiring look. 'But no one too young, because we wouldn't want them to get hurt, right, Prongs?' Sirius' voice was louder than before.

'No, I think a first year will be fine,' James said loudly, 'no one knows them well enough to miss them.'

Lily, having heard enough, stormed over to the four boys. Remus tapped his wand on the parchment and the ink disappeared.

'Good evening, Lillian,' Sirius said with a grin.

'Hand it over.' Lily reached for the parchment, but James, with his seeker reflexes, pulled it away.

'Now, Evans,' James said with a laugh, 'you know I love having you around, but you should always say hello before beginning a conversation.'

'James Potter!' Lily yelled, 'hand over that parchment now!'

'All right, all right.'

Lily suspiciously took the parchment from his hand. She looked down at it. It was blank.

'What have you done to it? Remus?' Remus held his hands up shaking his head.

'That's all there is to see, Lily,' the sandy haired boy protested.

Lily pulled out her wand and rapped on the parchment. 'Reveal your secrets,' she said smartly. Nothing happened. 'I, Lily Evans, Head Girl of Hogwarts command you reveal your information.'

She watched, as ink spread out onto the parchment, forming words.

'_Mr Moony_,' Lily read aloud, casting Remus an annoyed look, '_thinks Lily Evans deserves her role of Head Girl, but thinks she has better things to do than interrogate a piece of parchment. Mr Padfoot_,' at this point Lily looked at Sirius, _'agrees that Ms Evans deserves her role of Head Girl, and seconds Mr Moony's notion of her having better things to do. He suggests her time would be better spent doing homework, or telling James she doesn't wish to go out with him._

'_Mr Prongs_,' Lily was smiling now, as she looked at the marauder in question, '_would like to add that Lily is looking especially beautiful today, and wants to know if she'll go out with him. Yes_.' Lily froze as a triumphant smile spread across James' face. 'Wait, no! No.'

'But you said yes!' James said.

'Only because it was written down!' Lily screeched. Her smile was long gone.

'But you still said it!' Sirius cheered.

'No! No, it doesn't count,'

'All right! It was worth a shot,' James said, not looking too disheartened.

'Anyway,' Lily said reading on, '_Mr Wormtail,'_ Lily smiled at Peter, '_would like to add that he cannot believe that someone as pretty and smart as Lily was ever friends with Severus Snape...' _Lily frowned, set the parchment back down on the table, and walked off.

'Nice going, Peter,' James said gloomily. 'You upset her.'

'Ah well,' Sirius said, clapping the messy haired marauder on the back. 'At least we know it works.'


	7. Chapter 7

'Tuney's an idiot!' Lily exclaimed, looking over a letter from her sister.

'What's she done now?'

'She forgot to hand up an assignment, so she used the worst excuse possible; "the dog ate it". We don't even have a dog!' Lily couldn't quite believe her sister had written to her, to tell her an excuse hadn't worked out.

Alice laughed. 'Did the teacher buy it?'

'Nope.'

'Why not?' James asked, appearing at Lily's shoulder. 'Dogs love to eat homework!'

'Only because you train them to,' Lily teased.

'Sure,' James said with an easy smile. 'But why not? Any teacher here would accept it as an excuse.'

'Only in the holidays,' Alice said, 'During term you don't _have _a dog.'

'It's not possible.' Lily said.

James was silent for a moment, then, 'Evans, if I could get a teacher here, at Hogwarts, to believe a dog ate my homework, would you go to Hogsmeade this weekend?'

Lily was in a good mood, so, instead of yelling, like she usually did, she said, 'James Potter, if you can convince Professor _Slughorn_ that a _dog_ ate your Potions Essay, then, yes, I will go with you to Hogsmeade.' Lily felt that was a safe wager to make, considering Slughorn was the strictest teacher in the school, and that James didn't have a dog. She also doubted he would be willing to sacrifice such an important essay. If, he were to somehow succeed, Lily would get a laugh even if she did have to go to Hogsmeade with him

James was watching Lily with a glazed expression. 'Deal,' he said in a strangled voice. Lily suddenly realised he would do whatever it took to win the date.

Alice was watching the two Heads with amazement. 'Lily, have you gone mad?' she whispered after James had rushed away, bellowing 'SIRIUS!'

Lily shook her fiery head, 'I don't think so. He can't win this one, and I don't want him to think I'm a cold hearted witch _all _the time. This way, when he doesn't get the date, it'll be his fault, not mine.'

She watched in amusement as James shooed away the girl Sirius was snogging, and still yelling, outlined the wager. Sirius, who had looked a little disgruntled, whooped and cheered. The two then moved over to where Remus was studying. After a few hasty words, a smile broke onto Remus' weary face, and he too shouted in celebration. Shaking her head, Lily watched as the James and Remus tore up the boy's dormitory stairs, followed by Sirius and Peter, who were doing a strange waltz.

* * *

'Ready?' James asked. His hazel eyes shone with excitement. Sirius nodded his shaggy, dark head. Even as a dog he managed to grin.

Remus shook his head grinning, 'You two are barmy.'

'It's possible,' James admitted, 'but it's not like Slughorn can tell me off, especially when he sees I'm "telling the truth".' Sirius barked his agreement. 'Make sure you chew it well, Padfoot,' he added, 'Evans _has _to be proven wrong. It'll be good for her.'

'And you get a date with Lily,' Remus laughed.

James waved a hand, 'Minor detail,' Peter snorted with laughter, as did the black dog. 'Anyway, Moony, do you remember what you have to do.'

Remus nodded. 'See you in class.'

* * *

James shoved open the heavy wooden door to the Potions classroom. 'Potter,' Slughorn said reprovingly, 'you're late.' Lily watched him from her seat. In his hand was his Potions essay. She smiled to herself. It was all in one piece, and there was not a dog in sight. It was then she realised that she did not get anything for winning the bet.

'Sorry, Professor,' James panted, 'I slept in.' He winked at Lily, and then at Remus who was lighting a fire under his cauldron.

'Where's Black?'

'Oh, he slept in too,' James said, without missing a beat, 'he'll be along any minute.'

Slughorn nodded, 'Well sit down then.'James nodded.

'James!' Remus suddenly shouted. 'Look out!'

James spun, and let out a strangled yell as a huge, black dog came tearing down the dungeon corridor and leapt at him. Lily's heart was in her throat and she was reaching for her wand. Until she remembered the wager. Then, she laughed.

The dog snapped at James, who tried to fend it off with his hands. Slughorn stood, as if paralysed, watching the scene before him. Lily wasn't entirely sure when it happened, but the dog had got hold off James' essay, and shredded it.

'James, keep your head down!' Remus shouted, pulling out his wand. He was the only one in the class that was not watching on in horror, or Lily's case, amusement. Remus shot a jinx out of his wand, which hit to dogs tail.

The canine let out a yelp and then, forgetting James, turned to Remus. It let out a steady growl, of what sounded like a stream of curses, and finally, tore out of the classroom, knocking over cauldrons as it went. Panting, James got to his feet, and pushed his glasses back onto his nose.

'Potter, are you all right?' Slughorn asked weakly. He looked as if he were going into shock. James nodded, and opened his mouth to speak but -

'WHAT THE HELL?' came a loud shout from the corridor. Sirius came running in, wand aloft, red in the face and out of breath. 'There's a dog out there! It just shredded my bag and my essay.' Sirius held up the evidence.

Slughorn mopped his shiny forehead. 'Potter, Black, due to ... ah...unusual circumstances, you may have until Friday to hand up your essays.'

'You too?' Sirius asked James who grimaced.

'Boys, please sit down, and, Potter?'

'Yes, Professor?'

'Close the door will you?'

James sat down in the vacant seat next to Lily. He waited until Slughorn had turned away before asking, 'What time do you want to meet in the Great Hall?'

'I don't even want to know how you managed that,' she said through laughter, 'but it was brilliant. Shall we say... ten?' James nodded eagerly. 'I probably won't see you much before then,' Lily said with a mischievous smile.

'Why not?' James asked, looking upset and confused.

'Well, you'll be working on your essay...'

'You don't give us enough credit, Lils,' Sirius said leaning over, 'We duplicated them before class. We both have a copy of our essay tucked safely away in our dormitory.'

'That's... clever of you!' Lily said, pretending to be shocked. She started to say something else, but her words were lost in other voices; Sirius was hissing insults at Remus, who was having a very hard time keeping a straight face.

'Well I'm sorry,' said Remus, with a wolfy grin, 'But I had to make it convincing didn't I?'

Sirius growled, and rubbed his backside. Lily didn't understand the exchange, but James clearly did, and was crying with laughter.

'Shut it, Prongs,' the long haired marauder said with an evil glint in his grey eyes, 'or I'll be having venison for dinner one night soon...'

James gulped, looking rather pale. He cast a furtive look at Lily, who was watching questioningly. 'I'm... er... vegetarian,' he muttered and then didn't speak to her for the rest of the lesson.


	8. Chapter 8

'Padfoot!' James hissed. The long haired marauder stirred but didn't wake. 'Ah, well. Looks like it's just us, Moony.'

The sandy haired marauder threw a smirk at the snoring Peter, and followed James out of the dormitory. Both boys collapsed on the plush couch in the common room, summoned a table toward them, then set to work on homework.

'Prongs, what did you get for question five?'

James made a funny noise in the back of his throat. 'Yeah, I hate it when McGonagall sets us questions, but I said it that "_a Protean charm will not work on things that can think for themselves."_'

'I got that, but why?'

James sucked the end of his quill thoughtfully, 'Because otherwise we would have another Imperius curse. Personally, I think three Unforgivables are enough.'

Remus nodded, 'Imagine though, if we could bewitch the entire school to behave like bludgers or something... People would run around bumping into each other! It would be great!'

James roared with laughter. 'Imagine the potential...' James said wistfully, 'Snivellus wouldn't know what hit him when he began to behave like an inkwell.'

'An inkwell? That's not very creative,' a voice scoffed.

'Hi, Lily,' Remus said smiling at her.

'Remus, James.' The redhead came to sit on the arm of the couch. 'What are you doing?'

'Homework,' James said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

'Really?' Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing, but sure enough, textbooks covered the surface of the table. 'At three o'clock in the morning?'

'Sure.' James suddenly laughed, 'And while we're on the subject of time, what are you doing up at this hour?'

Lily shrugged. 'I couldn't sleep. And then I heard laughter.'

'That explains it,' Remus said wisely, 'You were coming to tell us off.'

Lily blushed, 'No... no... I wasn't...' Neither James or Remus was convinced.

James turned back to his Transfiguration homework while Remus and Lily talked quietly.

'Isn't that right, Prongs?' Remus said suddenly.

James' hazel eyes flicked up, 'What?'

'Well Lily wants a hot chocolate, but she doesn't know the way to the kitchens. I said I'd go but I have to finish this, but you'll take her, right?'

James blinked rapidly and then, recovering himself, nodded. 'I'd love to!' Lily smiled, and stood up. 'Now? Miss Evans, I'm shocked. Students aren't allowed out of bed after hours! We might get caught...'

'Afraid of a little risk, Potter?'

'Never!' James said in mock outrage. 'The risk is what makes it fun!' he frowned, 'But I'm beginning to think I'm a bad influence on you.'

Lily laughed. 'So are we going or not?' James stood and pulled his silvery invisibility cloak out of his bag. Lily gasped. 'Is that what I think it is?' Remus and James looked at each other.

'It might be,' James said evasively. 'Here,' he tossed it over both of their shoulders, 'I don't want you to get cold.'

Lily thought the cloak felt like water, supple and slightly cold, although not wet.

'Remus, if you would do the honours?' Grinning, the marauder got up, picked up a text book, and tossed it out of the portrait hole.

'Sirius!' Remus said sounding annoyed. Lily giggled as Remus stalked out of the portrait hole to collect the book.

'Quickly,' James said pulling her after him. Remus was apologising to the Fat Lady on Sirius' behalf.

'What was that about?' Lily whispered.

James gave her a look that questioned her intelligence, 'If we walked out, the Fat Lady wouldn't see anything. She might panic and call a teacher, who'll then do bed checks. At worst, my little secret might be discovered.' He gestured to the cloak over them.

'Right. So you needed a diversion.' Lily laughed again. 'Why Sirius?'

James' laughter echoed through the corridor, 'Because it's plausible. Besides, it's fun to see him told of the next day.' James' tone wasn't mean it was playful. She sensed that Sirius did it to he and Remus as much as they did to him.

'Poor Peter,' Lily said as the implications sunk in. James laughed again.


	9. Chapter 9

'And that is how Gilbert the Golden saved the Minister...' Professor Binns said in his monotonous voice. 'His ingenious use of the Polyjuice Potion leads into our next topic, the Great Deception of 1918.' He tapped his piece of chalk at the gargantuan blackboard behind him, as if to prove his point.

Lily slumped onto her pencil-case. History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures were the only two lessons she didn't have with James. She actually missed his antics. Lily thought they would have been welcome in Binns' classroom. Alice, who loved history of magic, -and was immune to Professor Binns' droning voice- poked the redhead with the tip of her quill.

'Ouch,' Lily exclaimed, sitting upright. Alice sniggered.

'Are you all right Erins?' Binns asked, blinking like an owl.

'Hmm? Oh, yes I'm fine, sir.' Lily said quickly, pulling a piece of parchment toward her.

_Are you sure you're all right? _Alice scribbled on Lily's parchment. _You're kind of restless._

Lily sighed, looking determinedly out of the window, until her curiosity won out. She scanned the note and wrote back a reply; _I'm fine. Just bored. Ughh, I wish I'd chosen something more interesting than History of Magic... Do you reckon it's too late to try and change classes?_

Alice finished writing down Binn's words, and then pulled the note toward her. _I suppose Binns isn't the most...interesting person to listen to, but the topic itself is interesting! I think you'd like it. _She shoved the parchment back toward Lily, who was too busy tracing the grain of the wood of her table to notice.

'Lils!'

'What? Oh!' _Sorry... got distracted. I don't think so, I've never really cared much for History, even in muggle school. I know it's important, but I think the present is much more important than the past. I mean, without a time-turner, we can't change anything that's happened. Huh, I wonder if we could get rid of he who must not be named, with a time turner-_

Alice had been reading over Lily's shoulder and snatched the parchment away. _Don't even think about it, _she wrote, _you'll just end up hoping for something that can't happen. _Lily could feel Alice's cool tone, even when the words were on paper. Alice's grandfather had died at the hand of he who must not be named only a month ago.

_Sorry, Alice. I forget it's a touchy subject... let me make it up to you; on Saturday, while we're at Hogmeade, we'll go get a butterbeer. Frank can come too..._

_Nope. _ Alice grinned at the parchment. _Potter is really looking forward to your date, and I will NOT be your scape-goat. I don't want the marauders after me!_

Lily giggled, remembering the time Bertha Jorkins had confronted Sirius about one of his many dates. The girl had resembled an octopus by the time Sirius was done with her.

_Damn, _Lily wrote, _but it was worth a try... It shouldn't be too bad should it?_

_I don't think so... James seems to like you, and whether you realise it or not, you've got him wrapped as tightly around you finger as a wizard does his house-elf. _Lily grinned as she read. The house-elf analogy made more sense after she had met the squeaky voiced, bat-eared creatures in the kitchen. They had been all bows, and courtesy, and referred to James as "Master Jamesy" (Lily thought Sirius might have something to do with that) and Lily as "Flower Mistress", which she thought was cute, so long as it came from a house-elf and not James.

Lily reminisced happily for a few moments, until Alice prodded her again at the end of the lesson.

* * *

'Hey, Evans!'James called over the noise of the Great Hall. Frank was seated between Remus and Sirius. Alice grinned apologetically, as she seated herself next to her boyfriend. Lily sighed, knowing she had lost this battle and sat down next to James, on the other side of Sirius. 'I have a present for you!' James announced proudly.

Lily frowned, 'What's the occasion?'

'Well, a little mouse told me that you don't like History of Magic.'

'Who?'

'Pete,' James said, looking cheerfully over at his informant. Lily was surprised for a moment, having forgotten Peter was in her History class. Lily also wondered how long Peter had been giving James reports on Lily.

'So the information you received this morning spurred you to get me a present?' James nodded. 'But that was only two lessons ago! I had double Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Kettleburn, and now we're here! How could you have had time?'

'Lily, Lily, Lily. I'd have thought you'd learned not to underestimate me by now.' Lily sighed, beginning to think he was right. 'Anyway, here.' He pressed a long thin box into her hands.

'Is it a wand?' Lily guessed, feeling very confused.

James snorted. 'Yes, Evans, I just ran down to Diagon Alley and bought you a wand... No, of course it's not a wand! Just open it.'

'Wait. You didn't skip lessons to get me this did you?'

'No, no, I know better... I had a free.'

Lily frowned as she lifted the lid of the box. Inside, wrapped in velvet, was a beautiful blue-green peacock quill. 'Oh, wow! James it's so beautiful! Thank you!'

James grimaced. 'They're really bright... I wasn't sure if it was your thing, but I figured it's colourful enough to keep you awake. It's a Quick-Quotes-Quill, like Rita's got.' He suddenly seemed unsure of himself.

Lily admired her new quill and then- to the amazement of the other three marauders, Alice and Frank- hugged James, who flushed.

'Thank you.' Lily wasn't too keen on the idea of cheating in History of Magic, but nor did the concept of failing appeal to her. As long as she had the quill's notes, she reasoned, she could teach herself, and that wasn't really cheating.


	10. Chapter 10

James scrutinised his reflection in the mirror. Nervously, he tried to flatten his stubborn hair, but quickly gave up, and ruffled it. Then, he began to pace.

'James!' Remus groaned, tossing a pillow at him. 'My head hurts enough without watching you.' James grimaced. It was Remus' time of the month; tonight, he would transform into a werewolf. He was already feeling ill –judging by his pale face and the light sheen of sweat that covered his face – and James' pacing probably wasn't helping.

'Sorry, Moony, just nervous.' James sat down on his bed, and fiddled with a hole in the faded red and gold duvet.

'Will you be back by tonight?' Remus asked anxiously. James knew he wanted him to be there for the transformation process. 'I don't want it to be just Padfoot,' he glanced at the sleeping boy, 'He could get hurt...'

'And you might eat Wormtail.' James laughed, but Remus looked sombre. 'Anyway... how do I look?'

Remus pointed to the dormitory door. 'Get out.' James knew well enough to listen; he had asked Remus that same question several times already that morning, and didn't want to be hexed before his date with Lily. He ran out and closed the door just in time to block another pillow.

* * *

'What do you want?' James asked, over the loud noise of the Three Broomsticks.

Lily chewed her lip, looking thoughtful, 'A butterbeer, please.' She dug through her purse, and pulled out a sickle. 'Here.'

James closed her hand around it. 'I'm buying.' Lily sighed. Before they had come to the Three Broomsticks, they had been to almost every other shop in Hogsmeade. James had bought her a lifetimes supply of sweets from Honeydukes and several new books from Dervish and Banges. She thought it was sweet, but a little annoying that he refused to let her pay for her own things.

He preceded over to the bar, and then, after a quick word with Mr Rosmerta, returned to the table carrying two foaming mugs of golden butterbeer.

'Thanks,' Lily said shyly, not sure how she should behave around James when he was being so gentlemanly. 'Well... you seem to know a lot about me, Potter, so can I ask you a few things about you?'

James shrugged, and took a sip of his beverage. 'Go ahead.' Whether he wanted to or not, he already knew he would tell Lily anything she wanted to know if she asked.

'What do your parents do?'

'Mum's with the Department of Mysteries. Rather obviously, I don't know a lot about what she does. Dad's Head Auror.' James grinned. 'That's what I want to do when I finish school,' he said proudly.

'That's a dangerous job though!' Lily exclaimed.

'Yeah, well, Slytherins are great to practice on.' James said cheerfully.

'Oh. I would've thought you'd want to play Quidditch, as a professional.'

James leaned forward, looking quite serious. 'I did. But then with all this He Who Must Not Be Named stuff going on, I decided I want to be of some use. I mean, if I die, say, in five years time, I don't want to be sitting on the other side thinking, "yeah, well at least I broke the record for catching the snitch in the least amount of time." I want to be sitting there knowing that _I _made a difference. That I contributed to defeating the most evil wizard of our time. I could rest easy dead, if I know I've sent a few Slytherins to Azkaban.' Lily smiled, amazed.

'They're not all bad,' she laughed.

'Name one.' James dared her.

Lily thought for a moment. 'Regulus Black,' she said confidently.

'Death Eater,' James said in a low voice.

'Poor Sirius,' Lily said, clapping her hands to her mouth.

James smiled. 'Sirius is always saying "the world isn't split into good people and death eaters." Reg is all right when he's on his own... and he and Sirius get on well considering the differences.'

'Oh, well then... how about Narcissa Rosier?' James shook his head again. 'Andromeda Rosier?'

'She's in Hufflepuff, but no, she's not a Death Eater. Like Sirius, she's one of the '

'Ha! So I win!'

'Nope,' James said grinning. 'I said I wanted to take a few Slytherins with me, and you said they can't all be bad. Dromeda's in Hufflepuff. You still lose!'

Lily rolled her eyes and drained the last inch of her butterbeer. James followed suit. 'So, what do you want to do now?' Lily asked when they were again outside, in the snowy street.

James eyed her thoughtfully. 'I'm not sure. You don't like Zonko's', James pouted, 'and we've already been everywhere else.' Lily nodded. 'Back to Honeydukes then?

'Why?' Lily asked, slipping on her gloves.

James grabbed her hand, 'Come on!'

* * *

'So where are we?' Lily whispered. James had taken her into the cellar of Honeydukes, levitated a floor tile, and was now leading her through a wand-lit tunnel.

'Secret passage,' James said casually. 'It's quicker than the other way. Sirius and I found it in second year.'

'But we weren't allowed into Hogsmeade until third year!' Lily protested. James grinned, and continued to lead her through the earthy tunnel.

'If you get me lost, James, I swear I'll kill you.' James laughed.

Eventually, they reached a staircase. 'After you, Lily,' James said politely.

Lily made it up three steps before she heard James' voice behind her. 'Lily.' She spun.

James had been much closer than she had realised. She allowed herself to enjoy the way his lips felt against hers, until she laughed, breaking the kiss. James suddenly looked wary, as if he was expecting her to explode with anger. But she wasn't. She laughed again and a look of triumph and joy replaced worry on James' face.

'How do we get out?'

James grinned. 'There's a price...'

'Yes, and I just payed,' Lily said, beaming. She wondered what Alice would say when she told her that she, Lily Evans had kissed James Potter.

'Fair enough.' He waved his wand and a hole appeared at the top of the staircase. Once they were both out, James resealed the passage, which had opened on the hunched back of a statue. Lily took his hand as they walked, but when they reached a staircase James announced that he would be leaving.

'Where?'

'Remus is ill. He's in the hospital wing, and I said I'd visit him when I got back.'

'Oh! Is he going to be all right?'

'He should be fine. I just think he'll be annoyed because he missed out on the Hogsmeade trip.'

'Do you want me to come?'

'If you want to. From the loud conversation I heard between you and Alice this morning I was under the impression you had some things to discuss when you got back.' Lily blushed, and hugged James so he couldn't see her face. Alice had been shouting that she wanted details about the date.

'Yes. I should see to Alice.' She balanced on her tiptoes long enough to peck a startled James on the cheek, then trotted off toward the Gryffindor common room. 'I'll see you later,' she called over her shoulder, still blushing furiously.


	11. Chapter 11

The wolf shuddered, then howled. It lunged for Wormtail who squeaked and darted beneath the huge four poster bed, where Remus had been lying only minutes before. James barged through the dilapidated door of the Shrieking Shack, but, before the wolf could attack him too, morphed into a magnificent stag.

Prongs made a strange bleating sound and Padfoot, already in dog-form charged into the room. The werewolf lost all traces of hostility, and bounded quite enthusiastically over to the stag and the dog. His tail even wagged a bit.

Flanked by Padfoot and Prongs, Moony was led up the earthy tunnel, and out into the Hogwarts grounds. The small part of Remus that was not in a wolf mind-frame was worried about leaving the safety of the Shack. He fretted about it incessantly, but even more so after Sirius had tried to trick Severus into the tunnel on a full moon, in fifth year. He would have succeeded if not for James.

Remus completely trusted the other three marauders. They after all, had not abandoned him upon learning his dark secret, but had devoted their time into becoming Animagi, to make full moons more bearable. Remus was more grateful to them than he could possibly express.


	12. Chapter 12

James walked through the Gryffindor Portrait Hole. Sirius and Peter were there too, but were under James' cloak, Sirius half-carrying Peter, who had broken a rib. Neither of them wanted to cause a scene, and were trying to sneak quietly up to the dormitory where they could heal the rib.

James wanted to see Lily, as soon as possible, and so was uncovered. 'James Potter! You prat!' Lily screamed. James froze.

Everyone else was watching them now. She stormed up to the weary marauder and jabbed him hard in the chest with her wand. He winced, but Lily did not know he had a bruise from the full moon. She thought he was scared of her, which made her happy.

'What did I do?' James asked, backing away hastily, knocking over a first year as he did so.

'You ignorant, arrogant, bullying toerag!' Lily shrieked. 'How dare you lie to me!' She put on a deep voice '"I'm going to the Hospital Wing to see Remus!" How thick was I to believe you!'

'But I did go to see Remus!' James said. He wasn't lying, and had Lily not been so angry, she probably would have read his facial expressions.

Lily laughed bitterly. 'I thought you had changed, Potter. I really did. But then I found out what you did after our date yesterday, and what you were doing last night!' James opened his mouth to ask how she had figured out Remus' "furry little problem", but quickly thought better of it, and shut it.

'Are you even listening to me?' Lily screeched.

James nodded hastily. 'I am, I just think there are better places to discuss this than here,' he said, looking around pointedly.

'Why? So you can pretend you're not a cruel, insensitive git?' James' face fell. Sure, by becoming an Animagus he had broken a few rules, but it was to help Remus. Surely Lily understood that? Surely that didn't make him cruel and insensitive?

'I had to help Remus,' James protested, angrily now. 'I couldn't just sit by!' Lily opened her mouth to retort, but James snatched her wand away, and hastily said, 'Silencio.' Lily screamed silently.

James hauled her back out through the portrait hole, before doing the counter-spell and handing a livid Lily back her wand.

'What is all this about?' he asked.

Lily's eyes filled with angry tears. 'You. Last night, you went out duelling! After you promised me in Hogsmeade that you would only raise your wand against another person in self-defence! Those Hufflepuffs didn't do anything to you!'

'Hufflepuffs?' James asked, very confused.

'Yes, you prat! Bertha Jorkins, Rita Skeeter, Amos Diggory and Lee Chang! Those four are in St Mungo's because of you!' she poked him hard in the chest with her wand again, which emitted sparks.

'I swear to you, Lily, I was not duelling last night! Who told you that I was?'

'You missed duty last night!' she said angrily. 'While we were on patrol, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Rosier, Bellatrix Rosier and Severus came to find me. They told me that you, Sirius, Remus and Peter had been duelling with Hufflepuffs. They helped me take the others to the Hospital Wing-'

'It was obviously them!' James yelled, 'Why were Bellatrix and Sni- Snape out of bed? Only Narcissa and Lucius are prefects.' Lily frowned, realising he was right, 'Besides, Lily-'

'Evans, thank you,' she said coolly. James looked close to tears.

'Besides, Evans, doesn't it occur to you as strange that four Slytherins are out of bed, and four Hufflepuffs get hurt? And it can't have been Remus; he was ill! I told you that.'

'I thought it was the Slytherins, but since you never showed up for duty, I couldn't vouch for you, and you didn't come back until this morning. As for Remus being in the Hospital Wing, that is a lie because when I took Rita up, he wasn't there and neither were you, Black or Pettigrew. Madam Pomfrey didn't seem to know his whereabouts either. Obviously, the four of you did it –don't look at me like that, Potter, I can see your bruises and grazes- have been running around under that cloak of yours until just now. Since you don't want to fess up, you leave me no choice; I'm going to McGonagall.'

James froze as he thought quickly. McGonagall would know where Remus had been. She would also then know that the Slytherins had been lying, at least partially. She would also, like Lily, notice the grazes and bruises. If she realised James had not been duelling, she would quickly realise that James had been with Remus. That could lead to Veritaserum, the uncovering of the Animagus secret, and expulsion for all of them. He couldn't even tell Lily the truth, because it was Remus' secret to tell.

'Wait, Lily.' She turned to give him a haughty look. 'I did it. It was just me though. None of the others were there.'

'Don't lie to me, James Potter.'

'I'm not. The reason you didn't see Peter, Sirius or Remus is because they're all in the dormitory. They never knew about it.' Remus was actually back in the hospital wing by now, but Lily didn't need to know that. James had also realised that by the time Lily would be able to check, Peter and Sirius would have healed any injuries they had obtained. He could take the full blame. He owed it to his friends, but he pitied the next Slytherin to cross him. 'After our date yesterday, being an Auror kind of went to my head. I- I wanted to impress you, so I challenged Diggory to a duel.' James hung his head, hoping he looked guilty. 'The others didn't like it that Diggory lost, so they ganged up on me. I won of course, and then ran when I heard the Slytherins coming. I couldn't bring myself to face you until now.'

'I hate you, James Potter,' Lily said coldly. She turned on her heel, red hair flying, and stalked off to McGonagall's office. James slumped against the seventh floor wall, fighting tears.


	13. Chapter 13

'Prongs? What are you doing here?' Remus asked, setting down his Defence against the Dark Arts textbook. 'I thought you'd be with Lily...'

James shrugged, trying and failing to look casual. 'I decided I'd come see how you were.' He sat down on the end of Remus' hospital bed.

Remus smiled. 'Prongs, I know we're friends and everything, but I don't honestly think you'd ever choose me over Lily.'

'I just did,' said James heavily, burying his head in his hands.

'What happened?' Remus asked urgently, tipped off by James' voice. 'Prongs?'

'A bunch of Slytherins cursed Diggory and his friends. Lily thought it was me.'

'This happened last night?' Remus said sharply. James nodded. 'And she still blames you?'

'I took the fall, Moony, I had to! Paddy was with Wormy under the cloak-' Remus sniggered. 'What?' asked James, looking annoyed.

'I still can't believe Paddy stepped on Wormtail. Peter's lucky he got away with just a broken rib. Sirius' big head could have flattened him!' James snorted with laughter, and his expression brightened somewhat. 'Er... Prongs?' Remus asked, when James stayed silent.

'Oh, right. Well they were hidden, and went straight to the dorm, but I wanted to see Lily, so I walked in "alone". Lily blamed me for the whole duelling thing, and I had to admit to it or McGonagall would realise I was with Pete, Sirius and you.' James gave a humourless laugh. 'This way, only I'll be expelled. You guys are safe.'

'No!' Remus yelled. 'Prongs, tell Lily the truth! I don't care if she knows! You can't be expelled because of me!' Hushing noises came from Madam Pomfrey's office. 'Oops.' Remus lowered his voice. 'Really, Prongs, tell her! I couldn't stand it if... if.'

'Aww, don't cry, Moony,' James teased. 'Hey, can you do me a favour?' he gestured to his cuts and bruises.

Remus nodded, and, with a wave of his wand, healed James.

* * *

'Wow!' Peter watched James with more reverence than normal once James had recited his story again.

'How noble of you, Prongs,' Sirius said drily, 'But I'm afraid you can't do that. I'm going to go confess, say I was there too.'

James smiled gratefully, but shook his head. 'Don't.'

'Then why don't you take Remmy's advice, and just tell her the whole story?' Sirius asked. 'James, we don't mind if she knows, as long as she doesn't tell anyone else. If she's going to marry a marauder, she needs to know all the details!' Peter nodded.

'Yeah, cause she's going to marry me now after all this,' James said sadly.

'Fine,' Sirius said grinning, 'you tell her, or I will.' James baulked. 'You're not going to be kicked out, no matter how noble the gesture might seem, so get off your rear end, go find Evans, and tell her everything. Then, get down on your knees and-'

'Ask her to marry me?' James laughed.

'Well I was going to say beg for her forgiveness, but I like your idea better.'

'James is getting married?' Peter exclaimed. The two dark haired marauders burst into a fit of laughter.


	14. Chapter 14

'Lily!' James called, 'Lily, wait!'

She walked into an empty classroom, and, knowing he had followed, turned to glare at him.

'What do you want, Potter?' she asked icily.

'I have to tell you something.' She glanced at her watch, and then nodded.

'You have two minutes.'

James smiled gratefully. 'I wasn't the one who jinxed all those Hufflepuffs. I swear to you, it wasn't me.' He took a deep breath. 'That night, it was a full moon,' Lily frowned but James kept talking, 'Remus is a werewolf. Every month, he gets sick, goes to the Hospital Wing, and then, at night, goes through a passageway under the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack to transform. Paddy, Wormy and I figured this out in our first year, and Remus confirmed it in second year. After a lot of research, we found something. Not a solution, but something that would help Remus. In fifth year, we became Animagi. Every full moon, we wait for Madam Pomfrey to leave, and then join Remus, and take him for walks in Hogsmeade and the grounds. That's where I was last night.'

Lily's eyebrows rose so high that they were indistinguishable from her hair. She gave an incredulous laugh.

'It's true!' James said, quickly continuing on. 'Remus is a werewolf, his nickname is Moony. I become a stag, my nickname is Prongs.' He made two little antler gestures with his fingers. 'Sirius is Padfoot, he becomes a black dog, the same one that ate my Potions essay, and Peter is Wormtail-'

'A mouse?' Lily asked sarcastically.

'A rat actually, but you have to believe me!' His hazel eyes bore pleadingly into her own.

Lily was furious that he thought she was so stupid, that he thought he could just tell her something and have her believe it. James was smart, so enough of his story made sense, but she was not going to believe his lies.

'Oh, James,' Lily gasped, pretending to be amazed, 'I thought I was the only Animagus here! You see, when I get wet, I turn into a mermaid. My nickname is Ariel.' Her voice was heavily laced with sarcasm.

James' eyes widened. 'Really?'

'Of course not, you moron!' Lily yelled, and made for the classroom door. James seemed to deflate.

'Lily, I can see that you don't believe me, and I know you must hate me right now, but promise me something.' His words were so desperate her curiosity was piqued.

'What?' she snapped.

'Don't tell anyone what I've just told you. Not even the teachers. Please.'

Lily walked out, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Lily saw very little of James over the next few days. She supposed McGonagall had him in detention even during lessons. Somewhere, deep down, she still cared for James, and wanted to believe his ridiculous story. She was sure, that in time, she would squash those emotions.

Remus had been absent for a few days, and when he did finally return, he did look as if he had been ill. Neither he, Sirius or Remus had spared her a look or even a hello. She could only assume they had heard about what had happened between her and James.

Lily wouldn't have made it through those few days if not for Alice. Alice had played the role of best friend perfectly, listening when Lily had wanted to vent her frustration, and providing a shoulder to cry on when Lily felt guilty over the possibility of James' innocence. Even if she didn't understand the reasons for all the sobbing and yelling, Alice was there to support Lily's emotional whims.

* * *

Eventually, Lily calmed enough to look at the situation logically. She spent all of her free lessons alone, in the library, poring over books about werewolves and Animagi and the moon phases. She looked up the marauders' library records, at every book they had borrowed since their time at Hogwarts, and also the Animagus registration list. Neither James, Sirius or Peter were on there, which left Lily concluding that James was a liar, or that they were unregistered.

After weeks of study, Lily began to believe James. She remembered pieces of conversations, like the way James had panicked when Sirius had threatened to eat venison; James had said his Animagus form was a stag. She also remembered his Patronus which was a stag, and that Sirius' was a dog, and Remus' a wolf. As the full moon approached again, Lily noticed Remus getting gradually paler, until finally, he stopped coming to lessons again. On the night of the full moon, he, Peter and Sirius were absent from the common room. James was still in detention.

The more Lily watched, the clearer the truth became.


	15. Chapter 15

'James,' Lily called.

He looked too tired to be shocked at seeing her. 'Hi,' he said cautiously.

'How are you?' she asked.

'Lily, I have detention to do,' he gestured to the filing cabinets. Suddenly, he laughed. 'Do you have any idea how many of these detention slips Paddy and I have got over the years? This entire wall is ours!'

Lily smiled. 'James, you don't have to do detention anymore. Professor McGonagall told me to tell you you're free.'

'Is Mistress Flower going to present me with clothes?' James mocked, but for the first time, his smile reached his eyes.

'No,' Lily said rolling her eyes. 'I spoke to Professor McGonagall, told her you'd learned your lesson and that I needed you back by my side as Head Boy.'

'I almost lost my badge.' James said quietly, 'But really? I'm free?' Lily nodded, and then suddenly burst into tears and rushed at him.

'Oh, James! I'm so, so, so, sorry! I really am! I believe you! It took a while but I do! Oh, I'm so, so sorry! You must hate me!' she sobbed into his chest.

'Lils, let go. You're soaking my robes. Besides, James doesn't hate you.'

Lily's head snapped up. She jumped back and pulled her wand out. 'Who are you?' "James" grinned. 'Sirius?' Lily asked, recognising the smile, even if it was on James' face. Sirius nodded. 'What are you doing?' Lily exclaimed.

'Shh!' Sirius hissed, then he grinned again. 'James took the fall for all of us. He risked expulsion and has pretty much ruined his reputation. He put everything on the line. You didn't honestly think we'd let him do everything alone? He'd already confessed, so there was no point discrediting him, and he wouldn't let us share the blame. James' House Elf, Mildred, stole some Polyjuice Potion from James' place, and sent it here. Charlus, oh, that's James dad, he's an Auror, probably won't even realise it's gone. Me, Moony and Wormy took turns, being James, but its only me and Moony now, cause Pete just about wet himself whenever someone called him James.' Lily giggled. 'That way, James can still go to lessons and not fall too far behind.'

Lily pondered his words for a moment, but then Sirius spoke again. 'Did you like my performance in Potions that day, when I ate the essays?' Lily giggled. 'I thought I was brilliant, but I might be biased...'

'You did well. You had Slughorn fooled.'

'Speaking of Slughorn, why aren't you in Potions?'

'I was duty,' Lily sniffed. 'But I'm going to go back to class.' She sighed, 'I'm going to have to cry and beg for forgiveness all over again now.' Sirius chuckled.


	16. Chapter 16

'Gryffindor students,' Professor McGonagall called at breakfast time. 'Those of you who wish to stay at school for the holidays must see me immediately. I don't want the same debacle we had last year...' she looked very pointedly to Sirius and James who bowed. Sirius had been on the train, packed and ready to go, when suddenly he decided he wanted to stay at school. James had then stood, and decided that if Sirius was staying, then so would he. Several days later, the school received a worried letter from Charlus and Dorea Potter, who were asking where James and Sirius were.

'Professor?' James called, 'Because we're legally adults, could we stay for some of the holidays and then go home? We could Apparate...'

'If you will consent to side-along Apparition, with a teacher, then I suppose arrangements can be made-'

'Come off it miss!' Sirius protested. 'We're seventh years, and we're of age! Tell you what: I'll side-along Apparate with James, and he'll side-along Apparate with me.'

McGonagall pursed her lips, 'So long as you inform Mr and Mrs Potter of your plans this time, then I suppose this can be arranged.'

'Yes, Professor,' James said somewhat meekly.

* * *

'You're staying too?' James crowed.

Lily nodded. 'It's our last few months here, of course I'm staying! But only for half; in the last week, I'm going home to mum and dad.' She made a little noise in the back of her throat. 'And Tuney.'

James grinned. 'So we get three weeks, alone in this huge castle – which I happen to know very well – with just each other for company...'

Lily swatted at his shoulder but she was grinning too. 'I was under the impression that Sirius would be staying too.'

'Yes, but there's got to be more than one other girl staying for the break... Paddy won't even know we're gone.' Lily giggled.

* * *

'Bye Moony,' James called, 'Goodbye Wormy!'

The two sandy haired Marauders grinned and waved from their compartment on the scarlet, Hogwarts Express. Sirius laughed, pushing Lily out of the way, put his arm around James' shoulder,

'And you two be good while you're at home... We don't want any letters saying you've been misbehaving!' He turned to James, amusement dancing in his stormy eyes, 'Oh, Prongs! They grow up so fast.' He pretended to bury his face in James' shoulder.

'Don't forget to write!' James yelled as the train gathered speed. Remus and Peter were crying with laughter at their two friends on the platform; Sirius had conjured a flowery handkerchief and was alternatively waving with it, and pretending to blow his nose noisily. James was pinching the bridge of his nose, saying loudly, 'Don't cry, James, you mustn't cry!' Lily's stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

'Sirius,' she said when she had finally managed to settle down –Both Sirius and James had kept straight faces after their little stunt- 'Can I have my spot back?'

Sirius' eyes widened in mock outrage, and he clutched at James' neck. 'Never! You'll never take him from me!' then he grinned and let go of James, who wrapped an arm around Lily's narrow waist.

'Why the sudden change of heart, Paddy? Don't you love me anymore?' James teased.

Sirius snorted, 'She put up such a good argument, I knew I couldn't win.'

'She didn't say anything.'

'Fine,' Sirius said, completely unruffled, 'I noticed that Melissa Robbins is walking alone.' He looked over at the pretty ebony haired Ravenclaw.

'She's dating Lee Chang,' Lily informed him.

'But he's not here...' Sirius said, grinning. 'If you'll excuse me...'

* * *

Snow danced on the other side of the window. Lily snuggled into James' side. He yawned. 'I think I'll turn in...'

Lily sat up feeling quite disgruntled. 'But I just got cosy! Beside, I'm going to be all alone in my dormitory tonight! The least you can do is stay with me until then!'

James laughed, 'Come up to my dormitory. No, not like that!' He added hastily, seeing the look on Lily's face. 'It's just Paddy and me, so you can have Moony or Wormy's bed... Then you won't be alone.'

'Speaking of "Paddy", where is he?'

James chuckled, 'In the dorm sulking, because Robbins turned him down.'

Lily grinned, 'I told him she was with Chang.'

'And when has Padfoot ever done what you've told him? Come on, Lils, bed.'

He stood and offered her his hand, which she didn't take. 'I'll have to get my pyjamas, and my toothbrush.'

James nodded, 'Our dorm is at the top of the stairs, on the left.' Lily kissed him lightly on the cheek before she headed for her own dormitory.

* * *

Lily shivered. She could hear Sirius' snores and James' steady breathing. The heat of the bed warmer was long gone. Lily shivered again. She had racked her mind for anything to keep her warm, but the only thing she could think of was to set Peter's bed on fire. Somehow, she thought that would wake the other two, and would not go down well with Peter or McGonagall when they found out.

Silently, she pulled back the covers, and the curtains of Remus' four poster bed, and crept over to where James was asleep.

'James?' Lily breathed. He muttered something sleepily, 'I'm cold.' She wasn't even sure he was awake. 'James?' she whispered again. He opened his eyes this time, and looked blearily up at her. He blinked, looking shocked, then patted the mattress. 'No funny stuff,' she warned.

'Wouldn't dream of it,' he muttered. She slipped under the covers next to him. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer.

'James.'

'What? You said you were cold.' She grinned, and allowed herself to be pulled closer.

Suddenly, she tensed, 'Why aren't you wearing a shirt?' James, who had been trying to go back to sleep, gave up and looked at her.

'I never sleep with a shirt. The whole Animagus thing keeps me warm, because deer have higher body temperatures than humans.'

He laughed quietly as Lily pressed a cold hand against his smooth chest. He was warm, but not uncomfortably so. 'Please tell me you're wearing pants,' she whispered.

James nodded. 'Eww. I sleep in a dormitory with three other boys, Lily. Why the hell would I sleep naked?' Lily shrugged, relieved, and cuddled closer.


	17. Chapter 17

'What's this?' Sirius teased, pulling back the curtain around James' bed. 'Not only is the Head Girl in the wrong dormitory, but she's in the Head Boy's bed!'

'Shut up, Paddy,' James said, grinning down at Lily who blushed.

'I got cold,' Lily said shrugging. She pushed her sleep tousled hair out of her eyes.

'It went something like "James, I'm cold," "Okay, Lily, climb in," "James, are you wearing a shirt?" "No," "James, are you wearing pants?" "Yes," and then she fell asleep,' James said grinning. Both he and Sirius laughed at a very red faced Lily.

'I'll see you two at breakfast,' Lily said, feeling embarrassed. She walked from the room with as much dignity as she could muster.

* * *

'Lily, Lils! Wake up!'

'What?' Lily blinked, and looked around the at boy's dormitory. 'What's happening?'

'Presents!' Sirius and James chorused. 'Merry Christmas!'

'Oh!' Lily crawled to the end of James' bed and seized her pile of gifts. She unwrapped one that was from Peter, Remus and Sirius. It was a set of books on Healing.

'Thank you, Sirius!' she wished the other two were there so she could thank them as well. 'But why did you get me something?'

'You're Prongs' girl. That makes you part of the Marauder family. Besides, you got me stuff.' He held up the large collection of sweets she had given him.

'Well, thank you! Remind me to write the other two and thank them too!' She pulled over a box from her parents and Petunia. Lily opened the lid and found a voucher, for an animal adoption centre. She squealed in delight, 'I've always wanted a cat!'

'What's wrong with dogs?' Sirius asked, looking hurt. James and Lily laughed.

'Thanks, Paddy!' James called happily. He was holding up an enormous box of Bertie Botts every-flavour Beans, as well as a book about Quidditch.

'You missed my other present!' Sirius said, 'There should be another one in the bag.' James dug around for a moment and then pulled out a clump of grass. Soil sprinkled onto the sheets.

James roared with laughter. 'Open yours next!' Sirius opened a box to find a box of dog treats, a flea collar, more sweets, and a pair of leather beater's gloves.

James turned to Lily. 'Every year, I give Paddy and Moony a flea collar, and Peter a huge wheel of cheese. I invariably get grass, or,' he grimaced holding up a bewitched Christmas card from Remus, that was singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", 'reindeer merchandise. One year I got this funny box thing called Bambi, from Moony.'

Lily snorted. 'I think that "box" was a video. It's a muggle thing,' she added at James' blank look. 'You put it in a machine and it plays a story about a deer.' Comprehension dawned in James' hazel eyes.

Lily's final gift was from James. It was small, but very heavy. Curious, she unwrapped it, and then gasped. It was a clear glass orb, but it was hollow. Inside was a snow covered forest. When Lily looked closer, she noticed two blue-silver deer –a doe and a stag- leaping gracefully through the trees.

'They're tiny Patronuses,' she whispered, brushing her fingers along the glass.

'Yes, yours and mine. Do you like it?' James asked.

Lily nodded, tears of awe glimmering in her emerald eyes. 'It's so beautiful!' She set the orb down on its intricate silver stand and then threw her arms around James' neck, planting kisses on every inch of his face and neck that she could reach.

'I'm glad you think so. It was tricky to make.'

Lily pulled back, 'You made this?' James nodded. Lily stared at him in awe, and then resumed kissing him, liking the way his smile felt against her lips.


	18. Chapter 18

Professor McGonagall tapped the trunks with her wand. 'They will be waiting for you when you arrive home.'

'Thank you Professor.'

She nodded curtly, and headed for the castle. Lily pulled James' mouth to hers. 'I'll see you when term starts.'

'Don't miss me too much,' he laughed, kissing her again.

'James,' Sirius said, pulling James away from Lily, who he then hugged. 'Bye, Lils. Behave yourself.' She laughed and kissed James again.

'Merlin,' Sirius sighed, grabbing James' arm. There was a loud CRACK, and both he and James were gone. Lily laughed, and, focusing on her parents house, turned on the spot.

* * *

James took a deep breath as his feet touched the ground. 'Ugh, I hate Apparating... Paddy?'

Sirius dived at James, tackling him to the ground as a jet of green light went soaring overhead. Screams and shouts came from the Potter's Mansion. 'Mum! Dad!' James yelled. He and Sirius sprinted through the front doors, wands aloft. Sirius was shouting for the Potters too.

Inside was chaos. There were people in black robes and masks running through the long corridors, shooting curses in every direction. What looked like half the Auror office was also there. James recognised Moody, Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Scrimgeour and at least ten others James had not met. No one payed the two marauders any heed, except for the Death Eaters, who shot the occasional curse.

'Milly!' Sirius yelled. There was a loud CRACK and the Potter's House Elf appeared. Despite only reaching the boys' knees, she did not seem scared. She cast a protective barrier around the seventh years and shot streams of her own magic at the Death Eaters.

'Masters called?' Mildred asked in her high pitched voice.

'Where are mum and dad?' James asked desperately. Milly's bat-like ears sagged. Her huge blue eyes bore pleadingly into James and Sirius'.

'Gone, masters,' the Elf sobbed. James sagged. 'Killed by the mans' and womans' in cloaks'. They foughts bravely but the Aurors' didn't gets here in time.' A fierce gleam came into the little Elf's eyes. 'Masters must gets themselves out of this place. There is nothing they can dos here,' she squeaked, 'and Milly promised master and mistress that she would looks after the young masters.' Tears formed in Sirius' eyes, because the Potters cared for him enough to ask their Elf to protect him. Sirius looked at James, whose anger was slowly winning out over his distress. Sirius knew it was only a matter of time before James did something stupid. As much as he wanted to fight, James came first.

'We'll go. Thank you, Milly. When all this is over, I want you to come to Hogwarts, and find us.' The Elf nodded. Sirius pulled James to his feet. 'Prongs, let's go.'

James shook his head, 'No, no, I want to fight. I have to, Sirius.'

Sirius thought quickly. 'No, Prongs we have to get out. It's what Milly and mum and dad wanted. What about Remus, and Peter, this could be happening at their places too. They might need help. And Lily, Prongs, what if they're at Lily's house? Her family are all muggles!'

'Help the others. Yes,' James repeated woodenly, but he seemed more focused than before.

The two of them sprinted through the house, ducking curses that could have been cast by either side. They passed countless bodies, but didn't stop to check them. They made it out into the mansion grounds, where the fight was still happening. James and Sirius cast several hexes at Death Eaters, before James grabbed Sirius' wand arm and turned on the spot.

As they left, someone bellowed, 'Sectumsempra!'

* * *

Sirius felt James loosen his grip and they both landed, in a heap on the Lupins' dewy lawn, about three-hundred metres from the house. Sirius could see someone –Remus- illuminated by the light from the windows, come sprinting out of the house, shouting vague words. Sirius staggered to his feet, blinking in the dim night.

'Are you hurt?' Remus demanded, shaking him, none too gently. Sirius shook his head, but Remus was already kneeling next to James.

'Prongs!' Remus yelled, shaking him too. James groaned. Remus felt something sticky on his hands. 'Padfoot, I need light!' his own wand lay forgotten next to him.

'Lumos!' Sirius bellowed. Wand-light pooled over James. 'Merlin!' Sirius gasped. 'No, oh, no, no, no! He was fine! He's the one who got us here! No!' Sirius let out a long stream of curses, each more unpleasant than the last.

James looked as if he had been sliced again and again with a sword. His face, chest, arms and legs were covered in deep bloody gashes. Red blood seeped through his clothes, and soaked into the grass.

Remus and Sirius tried multiple counter spells, but nothing was working. 'Get Pete and Lily, I'll be at St Mungo's,' Remus told Sirius. The sandy haired boy sent a Patronus toward his house, grabbed James' arm, and then Apparated.

Sirius wiped his eyes and then turned on the spot.


	19. Chapter 19

'I'm looking for James Potter!' Sirius yelled at the receptionist. Lily had her wand drawn, and Peter was blinking in the light of the waiting room.

The blonde receptionist nodded taking in Sirius rough appearance, 'Fourth floor, he's in the "le Fay" Ward.' Lily's eyes filled with tears.

The three of them caused quite a commotion in the halls of St Mungo's. Peter was still half asleep, and walked into almost everyone they passed. Lily was distraught, sobbing and cursing the Death Eaters. Sirius hadn't slept for a two days, and was covered in James' blood, rubble from the Potters mansion and Lily's tears. He was the loudest of all, storming through the corridors, swearing fit to make a sailor blush.

'James!' Lily screeched, rushing past the healer to sit at his side. He sleeping, and very pale from blood-loss, but his wounds were gone thanks to copious amounts of Dittany. He did have a few scars on his arms, but none on his face. Remus who had been dozing on a chair beside the bed fell off at Lily's scream.

Sirius laughed. He and Peter conjured chairs next to Remus'. 'No funny stuff,' Lily whispered through tears as she moved squeezed beside the sleeping James on the bed. She started to stroke his hair.

'Excuse me miss-' the Healer said sounding annoyed.

Lily silenced her with a look, 'You're excused.'

The Healer frowned. Sirius and Remus grinned at each other. Peter was watching Lily with the same reverence he usually reserved for the other three.

'I don't think you should be doing that, miss. He's still very weak,' the Healer said insistently.

'I don't think you should tell her what to do,' Remus said quietly. 'Lily's not exactly known for her good temper.' Lily beamed over at him.

* * *

Lily didn't leave James' side. She lived off of tea, coffee and whatever food Remus or Sirius could find up in the Visitors Area. They only left to bring Lily food or drinks. Peter came and went as he pleased.

The Healer had taken a disliking to the marauders and Lily. Lily was playing Head Girl, and bossier than she had ever been. She had also insisted on being taught everything the Healer did to James, so that she would be able to maintain the treatment once he was discharged.

Remus and Sirius had set alarms on the room, that went off loudly every time the Healer entered. Their excuse was "We don't want the people who hurt James to come back with out us knowing."

Lily slept in the hospital bed, with James, but Remus and Sirius had set up sleeping bags that moved every hour. The poor Healer seemed to trip over them every time she entered the room, and had to endure Remus' lectures; "You're a Healer and Healers should know better than to step on people. Someone could be seriously injured." Lily would tell them to be quiet because James needed his rest, and Sirius would stand up for the Healer; "It's not her fault she has bad eyesight, Moony".

On the the fourth day, the Healer, tired of all of their antics, told Remus to "be serious". "Great idea!" Sirius had said, "And I'll be Remus!" They acted like each other for the rest of the day until the Healer finally told Sirius to be serious, and things went back to normal.

They had even had some fun as Animagi. Peter had come for a visit, morphed into his rat form, and gone running through the ward. Lily had then told off the Healer for not keeping her workspace sanitary.

* * *

James woke for the on the sixth day, and was snogged senseless by an ecstatic Lily until they were both gasping for air. Remus and Sirius both looked pointedly away at this point.

'How do you feel?' she demanded as soon as she could breathe again.

'I'm okay,' he said, sounding feeble. Lily kissed him again.

'Better? Hey!' Sirius had come up behind her, and lifted her off the bed, setting her down somewhere out of the way. He and Remus crowded James, asking frantic questions.

'I'm all right,' James said in a very tired voice. His eyes met Sirius', and pain filled his hazel eyes.

Sirius nodded. 'I know,' he was quiet and then asked, 'how much do you remember?'

James swallowed. 'Most of it actually, up to where Remus Apparated with me.' He gave his sandy haired friend a grateful smile, which was returned. 'I remember snippets of conversations you've been having too.' He grinned tiredly at Lily, 'No funny stuff.' She blushed. 'Where's Pete?' he asked.

'He left about an hour ago,' Lily said. She, James, and Remus filled James in on the happenings of the six days he was unconscious for.


	20. Chapter 20

'Professor?' Lily asked shocked, as she came face to face with her Transfiguration teacher.

A look of relief came over Professor McGonagall's face. 'Miss Evans. Thank Merlin I've found you.' She whipped out her wand and cast a Patronus. 'Tell Albus I've found them. I will stay at St Mungo's until he arrives.' The tabby nodded and disappeared with a flash of blue light. 'Now, Miss Evans, would you care to explain what happened? Who is hurt?'

'James was. He and Sirius Apparated back to the Potters' and there were Death Eaters there. James' House Elf told them that the Potters were dead. She told them to get out. They did, and when they were out of the houses protective charms they Apparated. James got hit with dark magic. They ended up at Remus'. Remus bought James here. Sirius came to get Peter and me. We've been here ever since.'

McGonagall nodded curtly. 'That fits with what we already know. The Order have been searching for you ever since you left Hogwarts. We received a message from Alastor Moody, saying that the Potter home had been attacked. We knew Black and Potter had been heading there, and that they were not the type to turn down a duel.' Her lips thinned, 'By the time the Order arrived, the Death Eaters were gone, and so were Black and Potter. There was no sign of them anywhere.

'The House Elf, Mildred, arrived at Hogwarts that night, but didn't know where the pair were. She could not located Potter, as I assume he was unconscious, and Black is not her true master; she cannot find him without calling him. Albus sent the Elf back to the Potter home to wait, in case either of them, or any Death Eaters returned.

'After that, we went to the Lupins. They knew only that someone had arrived the night you were taken. Lupin sent them a Patronus saying James was in trouble and he would be away for several days. They did not know where the boys had gone. We then visited your family home, Miss Evans, but your parents said only that you had left with a dirty, long-haired man. Mr Black seemed to fit the description, so we travelled to his home next.' Her nostrils flared. 'His parents were less than helpful. The same went for the Pettigrews. Mr Pettigrew was absent, and his parents knew nothing of the Potter's attack.

'We were all wondering if you had been taken from Death Eaters, but then we received word from one of the portraits in Albus' office saying that Mr Black had been spotted in St Mungo's. I set out immediately.' Lily was too shocked to speak.

'Sorry, Professor,' she said meekly. The deputy headmistress nodded. 'Would you like to come and see James?' Minerva McGonagall drew herself up, and followed Lily to James' Ward.


	21. Chapter 21

James was discharged nine days after the attack. Remus returned home, as did Peter, but James and Sirius, with nowhere else to go, went home with Lily for the last two days of the Christmas break.

'Lillian Faye Evans! Where have you been?' shouted Lily's mother, as she pulled her daughter into a hug.

'I'm so sorry, mum! I had witch things to do. I would've told you, but I didn't think you'd understand, and then I was too scared to come home to face you!' Lily said loudly. James grinned at Sirius.

Mrs Evans' demeanour changed instantly. 'Oh, Lily, you can tell us anything! You know that!'

Lily nodded. 'Mum, can my friends stay here for the next two days?'

Mrs Evans' sharp eyes took in Sirius and James. Finally, she nodded. 'They can have the guest room.'

'Thank you, Mrs Evans,' James and Sirius chorused. Lily's mother smiled.

'Is Tuney here, mum?' Lily asked. She hadn't seen her sister in months, because Petunia hadn't been around the night Lily left.

'Yes, she and Vernon are sharing her room.'

'She's still seeing him?' Lily asked in disbelief.

Her mother nodded, 'Petunia wants to talk to you. She has something to tell you... in person.' Lily stared at her mother for a moment, then went dashing into the house, yelling her sisters name.

Mrs Evans looked a little nervous, 'Do you boys go to Lily's school? She didn't say...'

'Yes,' James said. 'Lily and I spend a lot of time together because I'm Head Boy.'

Mrs Evans nodded. 'Well, come in then. I'll show you to your room.'

* * *

Lily's bedroom door and then closed. She frowned. 'James? Are you there?'

James pulled off his invisibility cloak and climbed into bed beside her. 'No funny stuff,' he teased.

'My parents will kill me if they catch us,' Lily told him.

James shrugged, 'The risk is what makes it fun. Besides, I'm James Potter. I don't get caught.'

'Is that so?' Lily asked laughing.

'Yes.'

Lily opened her mouth to say something but James silenced her with his lips.

* * *

'Lily, are you awake?' Petunia asked, knocking loudly on Lily's bedroom door.

Lily sat upright, poking James awake. He leapt off the bed and dove under his invisibility cloak just as Petunia opened the door.

'Morning, Tuney!' Lily said cheerfully.

'Morning. I heard voices in here last night, Lily.'

'Oh,' Lily frowned, hoping that she wasn't blushing.

'Was one of those boys in here?'

'No! Of course not, Tuney,' Lily said laughing. Petunia stalked out of the room. Lily frowned and hurried out of the room after her sister. Petunia was hammering on the guest room door. A sleepy looking James answered. Lily couldn't help but admire his smooth, toned stomach. It made her love Quidditch that much more.

'Where's the other boy?' Petunia asked rudely.

'Paddy's downstairs I think,' James said with a smile at Lily.

Petunia left them standing there and stomped down the stairs. 'Put on a shirt,' Lily suggested, 'and then come downstairs for breakfast.' James nodded and closed the door.

Lily darted after her nosy sister, who she found in the kitchen. 'What are you doing?' Lily asked curiously.

'Making Vernon breakfast,' Petunia sniffed as she buttered a piece of toast. 'I don't want to go in there while the other ones in there.' Lily could hear voices coming from the next room. Curious, she walked in to find Sirius talking to her sister's fiancé, Vernon. He looked up at her with his piggy little eyes and muttered something about her being a freak.

'Ah, Lily. Perhaps you can help me. Someone,' he said with a very pointed look at Vernon, 'isn't being very helpful.'

'What do you want, Sirius?' Lily asked sitting down next to him. She couldn't quite hide her smile.

'How does this work?' he asked pointing at the television.

'I don't know the technicalities of it, but it shows pictures.' She smiled sweetly at Vernon, 'You work with electricity, Vernon. Why don't you explain television to Sirius?'

'I work with drills,' Vernon said grumpily.

'What are drills?' Sirius asked excitedly. Vernon's brow twitched, but then he launched into a full blown explanation about drills and his firm, Grunnings.

Lily slipped out of the room unnoticed, and walked straight into James. 'Where's Paddy?' he asked.

'Vernon got him,' Lily joked, but James looked worried. 'He's fine,' she assured him.

'I have to talk to my mum, go into the kitchen and have Petunia teach you to use the toaster.'

'What's a toaster?' James asked. He looked excited.

'It makes toast,' Lily said laughing. 'If Tuney doesn't want to help you, just use you wand, okay?' James grinned and nodded.

* * *

'I did it, Lils!' James said proudly holding up two golden pieces of toast. Petunia looked close to laughing. Lily did laugh.

'Thank you, Tuney,' Lily said smiling. Petunia nodded once and walked out of the kitchen. Lily went over and wrapped her arms around James. 'How are you doing?'

He knew immediately what she was talking about, 'I'm all right. Sirius is finding it just as hard as I am, so I'm not really alone in the whole thing.'

'You have me,' Lily said quietly.

'I know, and I have Remmy and Pete too.' James stared at her for a long moment, 'Don't laugh, okay, but I think I love you, Lily Evans.'

Lily smiled, feeling tears in her eyes. 'I think I love you too, James Potter.' She wasn't just saying it though. She thought about the way she felt each time James kissed her, or held her hand, thought about the way she treasured every moment with him, though about the way his smile made her heart pound- her thoughts were abruptly broken off; James had lifted her by the waist, placed her on the kitchen bench, so that her head was at the same level as his, and kissed her.

It was a different kiss to any that they had shared before, but definitely in a good way. Butterflies danced in Lily's chest, and her heart beat so loudly it was almost embarrassing. She could taste James' sweet breath in her mouth, feel his warm tongue tracing her lips and feel his hands tangled in her hair, just as hers were tangled in his.

Someone cleared his throat loudly behind them. Lily pulled away from James gasping, expecting to see Vernon, or her father, but it was Sirius. She sighed in relief, and looked at James' slightly guilty face. She smiled at Sirius.

'We were sort of busy, Sirius, what do you need?'

'A glass of water,' he said. When Lily turned her back he gave James a thumbs up. James was having trouble containing his smile.

'Glasses are in that cupboard, water is in the tap,' she said, already pulling James' mouth toward hers again.


	22. Chapter 22

'So you're a wizard,' Lily's father said, leaning toward James. James wished very much that he had broken of that kiss with Lily a second earlier. That way, he would not be sitting her, with her father, exchanging pleasantries.

James grinned, nodding, 'Yes.'

'And what are your intentions toward my daughter?'

'Clichéd line, Mr Evans, but I know what you mean.'

Mr Evans almost smiled, 'Well?'

'I think I love her, sir,' James said earnestly.

Harry Evans appraised him for a moment. 'I think I can see that.'

James nodded, 'I really do care for her, and I think she feels the same way.'

Lily's father leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. 'How... how long have you been together?'

'A few months... but we've known each other for seven years. Sir, I've been waiting for a moment to ask you... Lily and I will finish school in a few months. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm sure that whenever I ask her, she'll say yes, but I might not see you before then... If I asked her, would you let Lils marry me?'

'Let me think about it,' Mr Evans said gruffly. James nodded.

'Don't say anything to her though, sir. We both know how stubborn she can get.' Harry Evans grinned at James and nodded.

* * *

Lily was sprawled on her bedroom floor, surrounded by books. She scribbled away at a Charms Essay while Sirius inspected her room.

'What's this?' he asked, bringing her bedside lamp over. 'Hold on, it's stuck.' He frowned, and pulled the lamp until the plug popped out of the power socket and the lamp came free.

'That's a lamp, Sirius,' Lily sighed. She hoped her father wasn't being rude to James.

'I've heard about these!' Sirius said excitedly. 'They make light!' Lily nodded, checking one of her textbooks. Sirius clicked the lamp switch, but nothing happened. 'I think it's broken, Lils.'

'You have to plug it in.' Sirius reconnected the lamp to the socket and gaped when light flooded the room.

'Wow!' To Lily's annoyance, he then preceded to flick the lamp switch. 'On, off. On, off.' Sirius laughed. 'On, off. On, off...'

James walked in, looked pleased with himself. Lily looked up at him, 'Are you all right?'

'Fine.' He lay down next to her and kissed her on the cheek.

'Prongsy!' James looked up at Sirius, and then his face brightened. 'It's a lamp! Watch. On, off, on, off, on, off.'

James stood and crossed the room to where Sirius was sitting. Sirius passed the lamp to his best friend, who also seemed fascinated by the lamp.

James laughed. 'On, off, on, off, o-'

Lily gritted her teeth, and sat up, pointing to the door. 'Out.'

'What?' Sirius cried at the same time as James asked, 'Why?'

'I have homework to finish and you two are distracting me!'

'Same old Evans,' Sirius muttered.

* * *

'Lily...' Petunia walked into the room. Lily hastily shut her textbooks, not wanting Petunia to see all of her "freak school" things.

'What, Tuney?'

'Do you have a moment?'

'Sure... why?' Lily's sister rarely approached her without good reason. Lily missed the days where they would have talked about anything, and everything.

'Umm, well, you know Vernon and I are getting married in ...' Lily smiled. 'I wanted to know whether you'll be coming?'

'Of course!' Lily exclaimed. She hugged her shocked sister. 'We might not always get along, Tuney, but we're still family.'

'You're not mad that Yvonne is going to be my bridesmaid?'

'A little,' Lily admitted, 'but not really surprised.' She met her sister's eyes. 'Just don't expect to be the bridesmaid at my wedding, okay?'

'Thanks, Lily.' Her sister walked out again. Lily watched her go, in bafflement.

* * *

'We have to go back to school tomorrow,' James sighed. Lily sighed too.

'And this all ends.'

'It doesn't have to,' James whispered.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, we are Heads. It's not like we don't have time together...'

'But we'll be studying for N.E.W.T.S.,' Lily protested.

She felt James shrug. 'Not every second of every day.'

'But this won't be possible.' Lily gestured around her dark room.

'Why not?' James sounded confused.

'Because, I have other people sleeping in my dormitory. Alice wouldn't mind, I'm sure, but the other girls... Mary's great, but she's a gossiper, Gwenog, well, she's got a bigger head than you... And you'll have the marauders in your dormitory...'

'They won't mind,' James said, and Lily knew he was probably right. 'We can "Muffliato" all of our conversations, so privacy shouldn't be a problem.' Lily didn't really care if the marauders saw them kissing. They all knew how she and James felt about each other.

'But the girls will notice I'm missing. The entire wizarding world probably knows we're together by now.' Lily giggled. 'I almost died of embarrassment when we saw McGonagall in St Mungo's and she told me she'd come here looking for you.'

'We'll make it work.' He was quiet for a few seconds and then he said, 'Marry me, and then we can get our own room!' Lily laughed.

'If we're on the subject of marriage, I think it's time for us to go to sleep.' She leaned over to press her lips against his. Without breaking the kiss, James grabbed her waist, and pulled her gently onto his chest. Lily laughed against his mouth. The kiss deepened until, finally, she mustered enough willpower to pull away. Panting, she rolled off of him, 'James,' she said breathlessly as she smiled, 'If you can't behave yourself, you'll have to leave.'

'I wouldn't want that...' James murmured in her ear. He bit her earlobe softly. Shivers ran down Lily's spine. She giggled as James left a trail of kisses from her cheek to her collarbone, and then from her ear, to the corner of her mouth.

'No, we wouldn't. I think you'll have to stay,' Lily murmured.


	23. Chapter 23

'I should find Alice,' Lily murmured, but she didn't really want to let go of James' hand.

'Pads and I will find a compartment,' James suggested. Sirius nodded, winking at a pretty Ravenclaw girl as she passed. She squeezed his hand and then took off through the crowded train corridor.

James smiled dazedly, watching her go. 'Padfoot! Prongs!' Remus materialised next to them, startling James. Remus and Sirius laughed.

'How were the last few days of your holidays?'

Remus shrugged, 'Uncomfortable.' He lowered his voice, 'It's a full moon tomorrow night.' James grinned, but Sirius looked indignant.

'We know that! What do you think we are? Hufflepuffs?' Remus and James laughed.

'So how was Lily's?'

'Interesting,' Sirius said, while James answered, 'Brilliant.'

Sirius launched into an explanation about drills and television, and James added bits here and there about lamps and making toast. Remus was crying with laughter by the end of it.

'Oh, and James spent most of his time snogging Lily. Isn't that right, Prongsy?' Remus snorted.

'And you're surprised, Pads?'

'No, not really but-' James could feel himself going red.

'I'm going outside, get some food,' he muttered and darted out of the compartment. He did manage to find the snack trolley and bought a pack of cauldron cakes, some liquorice wands and some pumpkin pasties. He hoped food would shut Sirius up.

He made his way back to the compartment, laden with food, and when he entered heard Sirius saying, 'She's on the kitchen bench, legs wrapped around him and they're just about glued at the lips. Lily told me how to get a glass of water, and by the time I left, they're going at it again! Hi, Prongs.'

James could feel heat rising in his cheeks. Both of the others were laughing. But then Sirius realised what James was holding.

'Food!' he shouted, snatching the pasties from James. Grateful for the distraction, James sank back into his seat. 'Oh, don't look so embarrassed, Prongs,' Sirius said spraying Remus with liquorice. 'I do stuff like that all the time.'

'Right,' James said. He sensed there was going to be more discussion. 'I'm...er... going to go find-'

'Lily?' Remus asked innocently.

'No,' James answered a little too quickly, before he recovered himself. 'Peter.'

* * *

James managed to kill half an hour looking for Peter, but he couldn't find him anywhere. Dejected, he looked for Lily, and found her looking uncomfortable, surrounded by what appeared to be every seventh year girl. He heard his name come up once or twice, and moved on quickly before they spotted him. Eventually, he returned to Sirius and Remus' compartment.

The two were talking animatedly about Quidditch, a perfectly safe topic, or, at least James thought. With a very wicked smile, Sirius turned to Remus.

'Moony, in a game of Quidditch, who do you think would play Keeper, out of Lily and James?' At Remus' confused look, Sirius grinned again. 'You know, the Keeper. The person who guards the rings and keeps the other team from scoring...'

Remus shrugged, 'Maybe they both would?' he looked questioningly at James, who groaned and looked at his watch. Four hours until they reached Hogwarts.

'Prongsy, who do you think would play Chaser? You know the one I mean right? The person who keeps trying to score.'

'I don't know, Pads,' James sighed.

'I think Lily would play beater...' Sirius said after a bit. 'She seems to be the one that leaves people with bruises.' He grinned at the large red marks on James' neck.

'Only because I'm too much of a gentleman to bruise her,' James said, trying to cover his hickeys.

'It's Quidditch, Prongs. There are no gentlemen in Quidditch.' Again, James sighed.

'Is there something you want to say, Paddy?' James asked at length.

'Finally!' Sirius burst, 'I've been hoping you'd pick up on my subtle-' James snorted, '-hints. We,' Remus glared at him, 'all right, I, was wondering what happened last night. Did you...?'

'Pads, no! You think... we... no...eww...well, not ewww ,but...no. Nothing... like that... happened last night... we kissed... but...not...that!' It was blatantly obvious that he was telling the truth.

'Aww, little Jamesy's all embarrassed,' Sirius teased. James, who had still been mumbling away, red-faced, went quiet at this.

'Not any of your business anyway,' James muttered.

Sirius laughed. 'It is so. I told you, remember. End of fourth year... McKinnon and I...' he smiled reminiscently. James cleared his throat loudly. Sirius grinned. The train ride became far less awkward after that, and all three were planning the full moon when Lily came in.

'Hi, Remus. How were your last few days of break?' the werewolf shrugged, as he had with Sirius and James, but this time did not elaborate.

Lily seated herself in James' lap, 'Everyone's asking about us! I only just got away! Bertha Jorkins has dubbed us the new Hogwarts "Golden Couple".'

Sirius burst into a fit of laughter. Remus was had paled, and was looking nauseous, though it was more likely that it was because of the full moon than Lily's news.

'Consider yourself lucky,' James muttered to Lily darkly, 'I've had to sit here listening to Paddy's Quidditch innuendos.'

'What do you mean?' James began to whisper into her ear. She giggled. 'I think I'm the Keeper,' she told Sirius, 'but not a very good one... A talented Chaser would have no trouble against me.'


	24. Chapter 24

"Can you see them?" "Aw, look, they're holding hands!" "She doesn't even like him that much!" "About time!" "Yes, they lived together during the holidays" "She's only using him to get to Sirius!" "What does he see in her?" "Smith said he saw them snogging the other day" and "Do you reckon he gave her a Love Potion?" followed Lily and James around for weeks. The "Golden Couple" were stalked by curious students, "The Potter Fanclub", "the Black Fanclub", Bertha Jorkins and a group of singing House Elves that were under Sirius' instructions. James had ordered the Elves back to the kitchens, and several of them had been reduced to tears, unable to follow two contradicting commands at once.

'Maybe we should pretend to break up,' Lily suggested one Saturday at lunch.

James shook his head. 'No way. I'm not losing you, even if it is a lie and it would only cause more gossip. I say we just deal with it. People have to get bored of us eventually.' James looked at his watch. 'I've got Quidditch practice.' He kissed her gently, and then strode away with Sirius, ignoring the looks that burned into his back.

* * *

Lily sat in her usual armchair watching the fire as it slowly dimmed.

'Don't look around,' James whispered. Lily jumped, and managed to do as he said. 'I'm under the cloak. Do you want some quiet time?' Lily nodded once, keeping her eyes on the fire. 'No one's watching,' James said. She felt the folds of the cloak wrap around her as James pulled her under.

She grinned at him. 'Let's go.'

He led her through the dark castle, to the statue of the one-eyed witch. 'Dissendium,' he muttered. The witch's hump opened. James helped Lily through, and sealed it behind them. He pulled off the cloak.

Lily smiled and sat down on the steps, where he had first kissed her. James seated himself next to her. 'How was your day?' he asked.

She shrugged. 'I missed you when you were at Quidditch practice. Alice and I did History of Magic Homework. You have no idea how grateful I am for the Quick-Quotes-Quill... What else happened... Oh, yes, I gave a group of fifth year's detention for looking at me today.' James chuckled. 'And I got a letter from home. Tuney's wedding is next weekend, we're free to go, I checked with McGonagall.' James nodded. Lily wanted him there for moral support.

'Did the letter say anything else?' James asked.

'Yes.'

'What did it say?' James felt excitement boiling in his stomach at the prospect of an answer from Harry Evans.

'It said "yes" at the top, and then at the bottom, it said, "the boy will understand."' Lily shook her head. 'I think dad's losing it- What?' she asked; James was beaming.

'Nothing,' he said quickly. Lily muttered something that sounded like "men".

* * *

'Maybe we should go back soon,' James suggested. He was lying in the tunnel, with his head in Lily's lap, as she stroked his hair. He had a Quidditch match the next day, and didn't want to lose; it was against Slytherin.

'Or maybe we shouldn't.' Her emerald eyes gleamed. 'I'm quite comfortable here...'

James grinned up at her, 'Me too.'

'Then why would you want to leave?'

'Quidditch,' James answered simply.

Lily rolled her eyes. 'Is that all you care about?'

'No. I care about my friends, and my grades. I care about He Who Must Not Be Named sending his Death Eaters to my house to kill my parents,' James' voice became uncharacteristically bitter.

'I'm sorry, James.'

He blinked. 'What? Don't be. We were talking about things I like and I twisted it back on you. That's not your fault...'

'Do you know what I like, James Potter?' Lily asked.

'School?'

'You,' she said laughing.

'Really? Well that's a little upsetting.'

'Why?'

'Well you said you like me.' James sat up. 'I, on the other hand, love you.' Lily's face lit up.

Lily crawled over to him and climbed into his lap. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, and her arms firmly around his neck, then pulled his lips to hers. 'I love you too,' she told him between kisses.

* * *

Lily spent the night in the boy's dormitory with James. It was three in the morning by the time they returned to Gryffindor tower, so she decided she might as well get some enjoyment out of the rumours she knew would be spreading the next day. James fell asleep quickly, with hardly a goodnight kiss, so Lily, who wasn't tired at all, stayed up and talked with Remus. He confided that he was worried about Peter, who had been acting oddly. Remus thought James being injured in the holidays had shaken him, and Lily agreed.


	25. Chapter 25

'It's a good day for the final game of the season today!' Amos Diggory called cheerfully from the commentator's box. 'Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, we all know who we want to win, but we'll just see how everything goes...'

'Here comes the Gryffindor team; McKinnon, Black, Longbottom, Jones, Spinnet, Tonks and Potter! The Slytherin team is next; Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Rosier, Rosier, Malfoy and Avery!'

'It's a strong side presented by both teams today! Will the Rosier sisters and Malfoy be able to hold their own against Jones, Spinnet and Tonks? Only time will tell, folks!

Lily was already sick of Amos' voice. 'All right! The balls have been released, let the game begin!'

Ted Tonks scored three goals in the first five minutes of the game. Slytherin had several chances to score, but Marlene's Keeping skills were too good. 'And look at Potter and Black!' Diggory called.

Lily looked up. Sirius and James were just sitting on their brooms, talking. The Slytherins jeered, and Marlene, the team captain, shouted at them to pay attention to the game. She was red faced from shouting at them, but they ignored her, and continued their discussion. James was clearly in disagreement with whatever Sirius was saying because he was shaking his head vehemently.

'And Potter appears to be too tired to play,' Diggory yelled. 'Too many late nights if you get what I mean...' McGonagall cleared her throat loudly behind him.

The crowd laughed. Lily wanted to find a rock to hide under. James looked disgruntled until Sirius pointed to something over his shoulder. James spun his broom round, and went into a steep dive. About ten feet before he hit the ground, he pulled out of it, and lifted his hand in triumph. Everyone except the Slytherins went wild.

Alice squealed and hugged Lily, 'They won, they won!'

* * *

There was a lot of celebrating in the common room that night. Marlene McKinnon and Gwenog Jones had been accepted by the Holyhead Harpies because a talent scout attended the game. As was also prone to happen, a couple was brought together by the festivities. David Spinnet had kissed Mary Davies in the end-of-match excitement. They were the new "Golden Couple".

With everything else that had happened, Lily and James were forgotten, and that suited them just fine. They were curled up together on a couch sipping butterbeers, and occasionally feeding each other Bertie Bott's Beans. Remus had gone to bed early, with a headache, Peter was nowhere to be found, Sirius had found another girl, and Alice was with Frank.

Well into the night, McGonagall came and bellowed herself hoarse at everyone to go to bed. Things got considerably quieter after that. Sirius returned, looking proud of himself. He walked straight up to James and said, 'We did it...See, how hard was that?' He then collapsed into a chair, and was asleep in seconds.

'He smells like Firewhisky,' Lily sniffed, disapprovingly. 'What did he mean by "how hard was that"?'

James sighed. 'You know during the game, when we were talking on our brooms... he was asking me what we did last night... Pads is nosy about things like that. He asked on the train as well.'

'Did he think we...?' James nodded. Lily blushed. 'How embarrassing. It's not even his business what we do or don't do.'

'Paddy begs to differ,' James said grimacing.

'Has he...?'

James nodded. 'End of fourth year.' Lily wrinkled her nose at the thought.

'And he tells you every time?' she asked skeptically, looking for a way to avoid sharing her love life with Sirius Black.

'Weren't you listening before? He said; "We did it".' Lily wrinkled her nose again.

'James, if you ever want a hope of telling him yes, you'd better keep telling him no.' Laughing at his confusion, she kissed him and headed for her dormitory.


	26. Chapter 26

'Miss Evans, will you please stay behind? You too, Mr Potter.' James, who was halfway to the door slumped and walked over to Minerva McGonagall's desk. 'It has come to my attention that the two of you are in a romantic relationship. Reports could be wrong, so, if they are, tell me, and you may leave.'

Lily wanted to sink through the classroom floor. She also wanted to hex James, who was grinning triumphantly.

'Your sources are correct, Professor,' James said happily.

Both students were amazed when she smiled. 'Then allow me to say that I am happy for you.'

Lily managed a small, 'Thank you, Professor.'

McGonagall shuffled some papers unnecessarily and replaced them on her desk. She looked at them beadily. 'I assure you, I have no wish to speak about this, but as Head of House, it is my duty... You are both older students and of age, but you are in my care. I will tell you once, and once only that I do not wish to be writing to your families and telling them that you have been engaged in any...explicit activities. You are Heads, and must set a respectable example for the other students.' Lily blushed and stared at the floor. 'You have been warned. The two of you may go.'

Sirius and Remus were outside the door, shaking with laughter, apparently having heard the conversation. James frowned, looking at Sirius and then said, 'Pads, you didn't!'

'I might have,' Sirius said waggling his eyebrows.

Lily gasped as she understood. 'You're her source? Oh, Sirius Black, I am going to murder you! You put us through that?' She drew her wand and held it threateningly in front of him.

'Sure,' Sirius said easily. 'It made my day, and it was about time you got the McGonagall responsibility talk... I've had about twelve, and they truly are some of my most well remembered moments at Hogwarts... I just wanted to share the experience... You should actually be thanking me-'

'Silencio,' Lily said grumpily, unable to listen to him talk any more. She also performed an upper body binding spell, so that he wouldn't be able to get to his wand. She then turned on Remus who was still laughing, and repeated the process. She walked away with James who looked torn between annoyance and amusement.


	27. Chapter 27

'Well, yes, er... now we will be making a Draught of Living Death... yes, Miss Rosier, I am aware we did this last year, but I seem to recall most of you failing. This is a potion you will certainly need to do to achieve your N.E.W.T.S. so I have decided to give you another chance today... You will be working in pairs, which I have assigned... Amelia Greigs and Carl Bones... Bellatrix Rosier and Bartiemus Crouch... Narcissa Rosier and Lucius Malfoy... Melissa Robbins and Lee Chang... Lillian Evans and Remus Lupin... Peter Pettigrew and Thorfin Rowle...Alice Longbottom and Severus Snape... and ... don't make me regret this... Sirius Black and James Potter.

'Get started... you have an hour and a half.'

As soon as the class began, a loud argument broke out between James and Sirius. 'He said your name first, that means you're the girl in this partnership!' said James cheerfully.

Sirius looked disgruntled. 'I'm not a girl! I'm an extremely masculine and good-looking male, and he said my name first because he likes me best!'

James was shaking his head. 'But he said every other girl before she said the boy, and then, when it came to us he said your name first!'

Sirius' facial expression was a mix between a frown and a pout. His lips moved silently as he listed of the names of pairs in the order Slughorn had said them. His face fell when he mouthed "Sirius Black and James Potter.' James was sniggering over their cauldron.

'Oh, shut it, Prongs!' he said grumpily.

Laughing, she and Remus turned back to their own potion. About half an hour into the lesson, James came over, whispered something to Remus, winked at Lily, and then, laughing, went to sit next to Sirius again. Lily did not notice that James had added a wet-start firework to Alice and Severus' potion.

It was well planned. Alice was in the student store room, looking for another valerian root. Severus was just leaning over his purple shaded potion when BANG! Several students screamed. Severus, Peter and Bellatrix were all stretchered up to the Hospital Wing, having been sprayed with the half completed potion.

James, Sirius and Remus all laughed, but Lily was furious. She was sure the perpetrator had been James, and decided, to confront him after class. Slughorn hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary, and so decided Severus must have added something wrongly . She was not going to let James get away with it. She was afraid of having it end like last time; with him in months of detention for something that wasn't his fault. She sighed, and added the Sopophorus Bean juice.

'Lils?' Lily looked up to see Alice. 'Can I join your group?' Lily looked at Remus and nodded.

'Excellent!' boomed Slughorn, clapping his hands together. 'Miss Evans, this is an Outstanding potion. You should have no trouble achieving your N.E.W.T.S. if you keep up this work!' Lily smiled, and then blushed as Slughorn continued to praise her on her potion making ability. She was glad it was the last lesson of the day, so that she didn't have to endure the mockery of the Slytherins.

* * *

'James!' Lily called angrily. He was walking ahead with Sirius and Remus, talking about going to visit Peter before dinner. 'James Potter, look at me when I'm talking to you!'

James stopped, and grinning, waited for her to catch up. Sirius and Remus were hovering by the dungeon stairs, ready to make a run for it should things turn ugly.

'What, Lils?' he asked, with an innocent expression on his face.

'Did you, or did you not make Alice and Severus' Potion blow up?'

'Yes, I did. Why?' Lily was too shocked to look angry. He had just admitted to it; she had been expecting him to protest, and deny it.

'Someone could have been hurt!' she hissed.

'No, Lily. You don't give us enough credit. Sni- Snape's too good at Potions to mess up. At the stage the potion was at, they'll just sleep for a few hours. It was completely safe.'

Lily's green eyes narrowed. 'Sirius, Remus, could you come here for a moment?' The three marauders looked confused, but Remus and Sirius came over, giving her questioning looks. 'James said "us".' Remus paled.

James shook his head, looking panicked. 'I was talking in the plural... collective term... did you know I have multiple personalities? I-' Lily had to admit his loyalty was cute; that he would take the blame, if his friends could get away.

'Nice try.' The three boys gulped.

James turned to Sirius and Remus, 'Pads, Moony, I'll handle this. If I don't make it out alive, tell my mother- oh, wait.' James grinned. 'Never mind... Run!' The two of them fled, laughing.

Lily tried to go after them, but was suddenly caught against a wall, with one of James' arms on either side of the wall beside her head.

'You all get a detention!' Lily shouted after them, glaring up at James.

'No we don't,' James said calmly.

'Yes, you do! I'm Head Gi-' She was cut off by James lips on hers. It was a very slow, gentle kiss. Lily was frustrated that her boyfriend chose that moment to start a snogging session.

'Patience, Lils,' James murmured against her mouth. She was trying to speed up the process so that she could yell at him again, but James' lips maintained their slow, rhythmic movement against her own. Eventually, she managed to pull away.

'You,' she panted, 'have an awful sense of timing! Did you know that?'Annoyingly, there was no anger in her voice, and James took full advantage of this, bringing his mouth to hers. Again, his mouth was very sensual against her own, and patient; slowly building, but lacking speed and urgency. It was a very nice feeling, as if they had all the time in the world.

'I don't think I deserve detention,' James whispered, pulling gently at her earlobe with his teeth.

'It was... dangerous... not ... not funny,' Lily gasped.

'Funny is a matter... of perspective,' James panted, trailing kisses down her neck. It bothered her that he was so calm and even rational at a time like this. She could hardly put two words together, and he was merely breathless. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so helpless, and out of control, but she liked it. She trusted James.

'I...I... suppose.' She wasn't entirely sure when it happened, but next thing she knew, she was off the ground, with her legs around his waist, her hands buried in his messy hair and her lips against his. Her back was pressed against the dungeon wall. She let her tongue explore his mouth, and was pleased when he gasped.

Just as she was beginning to feel in control again, James pulled back. She blinked up at him expectantly. He ginned, and leaned toward her again, but his lips only touched hers lightly. She made a little noise of frustration, as his lips continued to move against hers, barely touching. She tried to lean forward, but he wouldn't allow it. He was teasing her.

* * *

'Well?' Sirius leaned toward James at the table in the Great Hall. His voice could hardly be heard over the dinnertime conversations. James and Lily had walked in, looking slightly guilty, though James looked more than pleased with himself.

'Merlin, Pads, No!' James said, shaking his head.

Sirius shrugged, 'Ah, well. I had to ask... so what were you doing?'

James grinned. 'Getting us out of detention.'

'And?' Remus asked.

'Let's just say I can be very... persuasive. That and Lily just about melts every time I kiss her,' he said grinning at his blushing girlfriend, who started up a conversation with Alice.


	28. Chapter 28

'There you go!' Lily said proudly. 'You're perfect!' James frowned at his reflection. Lily was making him wear muggle clothing to Petunia's wedding. He was dressed in something she called a "tuxedo", which consisted of pants, a white shirt, a black jacket and a funny little bow – navy blue in colour – that was tied around his neck. Lily called it a "bow-tie", but he was sure she was making it up.

'I look like a penguin,' James muttered darkly, again scanning his reflection in Lily's bedroom mirror. James would never live it down if Remus or Sirius saw him like this.

'I think you look nice,' Lily told him. He grinned, ruffling his hair anxiously. 'How do I look?'

'Stunning.' James said, beaming down at her. She was dressed in a strapless, navy blue dress with ruffles at the bodice, and down one side. It emphasized her figure nicely, coming in tightly at the waist and then flared out again, coming to rest at the top of her knee. Her red hair was down, curling naturally to the small of her back. Her small feet were enclosed in a strappy pain of silver heels. James wondered how she could even stand, and was glad that she had let him wear normal black shoes, even if they were ridiculously shiny.

'I think these heels are going to be the death of me,' she mumbled, pulling at one of the straps, which had become twisted. She almost toppled over on the way to the door, but James' Seeker reflexes saved her. 'Thanks.' She adjusted her hair, smoothed her dress and then said, 'All right. Let's go.'

* * *

'And who is this charming young gentleman?' Asked yet another of Lily's relatives. Lily gave a weary smile.

'This is James.'

'Oh! Are you dating?' the woman asked. She had Lily's almond eyes.

Lily, inevitably blushed. 'Yes.'

'How nice! You must excuse me, I need to go and congratulate "Mrs Dursley".'

James grimaced as she walked away. 'You owe me for this,' he said, glaring down at her.

'I love you too,' Lily laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders. 'Come dance with me?' She dragged him away onto the crowded dance floor before he could answer. 'Where did you learn to dance?' she asked partway through the second song. James grinned, proud he had surprised her with his dancing skills.

'Before the He Who Must Not Be Named stuff, there were social gatherings every other weekend among the pure-blood families. My mum taught me, but there hasn't been a gathering since I started Hogwarts.'

'But you're in good form.'

James laughed. 'You'll have to thank Paddy.'

'Sirius? Black? Really?'

James nodded. 'He's an excellent dancer. You must have noticed; every time we pull a prank, we come waltzing into the common room.'

'The day you made the dog bet with me,' Lily said, remembering. 'Peter and Sirius waltzed up to the dorms behind you and Remus.'

James grinned. 'If you'd been close enough, you probably would have heard Paddy hissing instructions the whole time.' Lily giggled. 'There are limits though, to dancing with friends.' Lily frowned up at him, confused. 'I can't do this...' His hands, that had been resting on the small of her back slid lower. Lily blushed. 'Or this...' He kissed her gently.

James felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. Frowning, he turned and saw Harry Evans.

'Hands a little higher, Potter,' Lily's father said gruffly. Lily bit her lips to stop from laughing.

James reddened. 'Oops! Sorry, sir!'

'Can I cut in?' James nodded quickly, and relinquished his hold on Lily. He went and found himself a drink, and a table. He had been sitting there for all of ten minutes when a plump, girl, dressed unflatteringly in white, came and sat next to him.

'Hello,' she said. She hiccoughed, and James realised she had probably been drinking. 'I'm Marge.'

'James.' James was thinking quickly, trying to figure out how to get away.

'How don't look like you're related to Petunia, and I know you're not related to Vernon... who are you here with?'

'Lily.' He glanced over at his girlfriend, who was laughing with her father.

'Who?'

'The sister of the bride. Lily Evans.' The short, beautiful and extremely intelligent girl, that's also an excellent kisser... James smiled as he thought of other words that could describe Lily.

'Oh. Her,' Marge said, frowning.

'Yes, her,' James said with annoyance. 'Do you know her?'

'Of course I do!' Marge boomed. She picked up James' glass of wine and drained it. 'I'm the sister of the groom. Vernon is my brother,' she added unnecessarily.

'Yes, I gathered. Well, if you'll excuse me... I have to go talk to someone.'

'Who?'

'Anyone,' James said standing. Marge grabbed his sleeve, and pushed him back into his chair. James glared into her little piggy eyes.

'You're a funny one. I like you...' she leaned closer. James could smell the wine on her breath. He moved back, almost tipping his chair, scared she might try to kiss him. She didn't. She whispered in a very conspirital tone, 'Vernon says Petunia's sister is a freak.'

'Does he now?' James spat.

Marge nodded eagerly. 'You seem like a nice boy, so I'll help you out. Why don't we slip out the back, and you can come and live with me... Do you like dogs? I breed bulldogs.'

'I like dogs,' James said thinking of Sirius and even Remus. 'But I don't like the idea of leaving Lily,' he said through gritted teeth.'

Marge giggled. 'I don't think you were listening, silly! If you ditch ginger, you get me!' James could feel fury pulsing through his entire body. The glasses on James' table suddenly exploded and the plates cracked into pieces. Several people looked over, including Petunia who gave James a very nasty look.

James stood up, absolutely livid. 'I don't want you,' he said bluntly. 'I happen to love Lily.'

Marge held up a finger, 'Right. Let me tell you; you are in insolent, ungratefu- oh!' She slumped in her chair. James sighed in relief, glad that his non-verbal stunning spell had worked. He dashed out of the ballroom, into the atrium. Unsurprisingly, there was a team of three Ministry wizards. James recognised them instantly, because of their attention drawing appearances, and ushered them into an empty board room.


	29. Chapter 29

'James Potter,' Mad Eye Moody growled. He was wearing his heavy travelling cloak, over the top of a pair of jeans and a sweater-vest. 'I should have known. Rufus, this is Charlus' boy.'

'Pleasure,' Scrimgeour said, eyeing James' attire. 'I knew your parents well... What are you wearing, boy?'

James grinned. 'It's a muggle thing.'

Moody scowled. 'You look like a penguin.' James laughed. He had always liked the grizzled Auror.

'Hem hem.' James turned to look at the last wizard, that he now realised was a witch. Moody rolled his eyes.

'If you want to speak, Dolores, please go ahead.'

The witch threw back her hood. James thought she looked like a toad, with a flat, broad face, big beady eyes, and stumpy little fingers. She was dressed in a sickeningly pink outfit and even had a ribbon tied into her elaborately curled hair.

'Mr Potter, you have broken the rules. At exactly two forty-nine, we received intelligence that you performed a stunning spell on a muggle. Is that correct?'

'Yes.'

'Would you care to-'

'Drop the formalities, Dolores. This boy was practically raised in the Auror's office.' Moody turned to James. 'Why'd you do it?'

'I got angry. She was insulting my girlfriend, and magic users in general. Then she insulted me, and I decided to stun her before I did anything worse. I didn't reveal my wand, it was in my sleeve, and I used a non-verbal enchantment. She was also so intoxicated it was only a matter of time before she passed out anyway.'

Moody nodded. 'Were I in your place, I would have done the same thing...' Scrimgeour cleared his throat. 'I'm not saying you did the right thing, boy, but it doesn't sound like you've caused any lasting harm... This certainly doesn't warrant snapping your wand... But be warned. Next time, the ministry might have to take more drastic actions.' James nodded.

Moody and James shook hand. 'Take care of yourself, boy. We'll be seeing you next year.' He winked, and followed Umbridge and Scrimgeour out of the room.

* * *

'Where have you been?' Lily demanded. 'I've been looking for you for ages!'

'Sorry. I got caught up.' He quietly filled her in on what had happened.

'You hexed my sister in law?'

James nodded. 'She doesn't like you very much.'

'I'm glad you chose me over her,' Lily said softly.

'There was no choice. I've been trying to get a date with you since I started at Hogwarts. You can't honestly expect me to up and leave you for another girl can you?' Lily's only reply was to hug him. 'Besides, she called you "ginger".'

James remembered calling Lily "ginger" once, back in second year. It was the four-hundred and eleventh time he'd tried to ask her out. He'd said "Oi, Ginger", and that was it, before Lily had turned and hexed him. He'd had tomato red hair for several days, until Remus had located the counter-curse.

Lily seemed to be remembering the same thing, and was giggling. She was about to say something to James, but was interrupted by her mother.

'Lils, bring James! Photo time!'

'Tuney won't want us in the photos, mum,' Lily sighed. 'We're freaks, remember?' Amelia Evans clucked her tongue.

'I mean just you and James, and some of you with the rest of the family,' her mother said firmly. James grinned down at Lily, who rolled her eyes, and pulled James over to the photo area.

Mrs Evans took several photos of the young couple, one of Lily, James, Petunia and Vernon, and several of Lily with her father. Lily then had to teach James how to use the camera, so that he could take some photos of her with both of her parents and her sister.

* * *

Although Petunia and her new husband left for their honeymoon in Majorca at about dinnertime, the wedding celebrations continued late into the night. Lily and James left just after midnight.

Lily, who had had a little too much to drink, was most unhelpful. Her heels had giving her blisters, and she was not interested in walking. Unwilling to Apparate because he too had had some alcohol, James ended up summoning the Knight Bus to take them back to Lily's parent's house. He had to carry her inside and upstairs to her room, because she was sound asleep and he didn't want to disturb her. He left her on the bed while he changed out of his suit and then realised he had to wake her up anyway; she couldn't sleep in her dress, and he doubted she would thank him for changing her clothes.

'Lils,' James said softly. 'Lily!'

She opened her eyes blearily to look at him. 'What?'

'You have to get dressed... I didn't think you want me to...'

'Oh. She mumbled sleepily. 'You didn't hang up your suit.' James had changed in the bathroom, and then brought the suit back to Lily's room, leaving it on his bags.

'Sorry. Do you want me to?'

She shook her head. 'Go wait outside.' James nodded. Several minutes later, Lily called him back in. James tried and failed to hide his shock; she was wearing his tuxedo shirt.

'Lils? Are you feeling all right?'

She smiled sleepily, 'Mmm.'

'Why are you wearing my shirt?'

'It smells like you...' She swayed on her feet. James ran forward and caught her. By the time he tucked her into the bed, she was asleep again.

'I love you, Lils,' he whispered. She smiled in her sleep.


	30. Chapter 30

Lily opened her eyes and blearily looked around her room. The sun was coming in through the window, blinding her. Her tongue felt thick, as if it were covered in sand, and her head pounded.

'James?' she rasped. Nothing. It was silent. She rolled over, to look at the other side of her bed, half expecting to see him lying next to her, but he wasn't there either. Disappointed she slumped back into her pillows. She hoped he hadn't gone back to Hogwarts without her; that was the exact thing James might find funny.

She reluctantly climbed out of her bed, and tottered over to the door. As she made it down the hallway, her mind made excuses for James' absence. By the time she reached the guest room, she was convinced he had been taken to Azkaban for using magic on Marge Dursley.

She needn't have worried, because as soon as she opened the bedroom door, she saw James, shirtless, and sprawled on the bed, deeply asleep. Lily sighed in relief, and then winced as a loud snore stabbed at her headache. The clock on the bedside table read one o'clock. Lily's mind jerked into reality. McGonagall was going to kill them.

'James,' Lily whispered, going to curl up next to him. 'Wake up.' She shook his shoulder gently.

James mumbled and then sat up, blinking like an owl. 'Are you all right?' he mumbled.

'Fine,' Lily replied, nuzzling into his shoulder. 'We've overslept though... We were meant to be back at Hogwarts an hour ago.'

'Oh, that's not good,' James said shaking his head, and then groaned.

'What?' Lily asked, worried.

'I didn't think I had that much to drink, but my headache begs to differ...'

'Yes, I hurt too. James?'

'Mmm?'

'Thank you for not being Sirius last night.' Lily remembered some of the night before, how James had carried her home, and then woken her up so that she could change out of her dress, instead of doing it himself.

'Sirius would have behaved the same, I'm sure,' James said with conviction, instantly jumping to his friend's defence. 'He's better than you give him credit for being.' He groaned again.

'You're not up to Apparating?'

'Oh, no, I am. But if you want to make it back to Hogwarts in one piece, then I don't think I should.' Lily smiled; James was being sensible. He yawned, and then his eyes snapped shut. Within seconds, he was snoring again.

Lily crept out of the room and back into her own, where she picked up her wand. Thinking of the first time James had kissed her, she cast her Patronus. The silvery doe leapt out of the end of her wand, and did a lap of the room before coming to nuzzle at Lily's hand.

'Can you go to Remus, and tell him we need help getting back?' She whispered her house address to the doe, which disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Lily went downstairs to the kitchen, where she found a note from her parents, saying that they were at work, and sorry that they couldn't say goodbye. She smiled, and set about making herself a cup of coffee.

* * *

'Nice look, Lils.'

Lily screamed, spilling coffee into her lap and all over the kitchen floor. Sirius and Remus were standing in her kitchen doorway. She instantly regretted the scream, which seemed to have excited the pounding in her head.

'Thanks,' Lily said blushing. She was still wearing James' shirt.

'Where's Prongsie?' Sirius asked.

'Upstairs in the guest room. We had a bit much to drink last night... He's asleep.' Sirius grinned at Remus who went flying up the staircase.

All was quiet for a moment and then Remus could be heard yelling; 'PRONGS! WAKE UP!' There was another yell followed by James swearing loudly, and then a shout of pain.

Remus came sprinting into the room again, his face swollen by a stinging jinx, and then James came staggering into the kitchen, wand aloft and a murderous glint in his eye. Remus ducked behind Lily, laughing and said 'Now you know how I feel after full moons... Only you chose to do this to yourself.'

James sighed and sat down at the table, kneading his forehead. 'Pads, do you know any spells to make this,' he grimaced, 'stop?'

Sirius grinned. 'See, if you got drunk more often, you'd know these things...'

'Paddy, please.'

Sirius looked proudly at the messy haired marauder. 'I have a trunk full of Recovery Potion back at school.'

'Why didn't you bring it?' Lily demanded, surprising the other three, who had forgotten she was there. Sirius shrugged. James raised his wand and summoned his belongings from Lily's room.

'Let's go.'

'Are you serious?' Remus asked from behind Lily. 'We've only been here five minutes.'

'No, I'm not. That's Sirius,' James said pointing to Sirius. 'And my head hurts. I want to go.' Sirius grinned and grabbed James' forearm. The two disappeared with a loud CRACK.


	31. Chapter 31

Lily reached for Remus' hand. 'Let's go.' The sandy haired boy grinned.

'Now, Lily, I don't mind, and neither does Prongs but somehow I don't think you returning late to Hogwarts like that, is going to make our lovely House Head terribly happy. McGonagall is a cat, and she'll be able to smell James' shirt...'

'Oh,' Lily blushed. 'I'll be right back then.' Remus nodded and sat down in a kitchen chair to wait.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lily came back downstairs, dressed more appropriately in jeans and a long-sleeved top.

'Remus,' she said, 'I've just realised... James went back in his pyjama pants. You didn't tell him to change.'

The werewolf grinned. 'No, but it is James we're talking about. If he bumped into McGonagall wearing a frilly pink dress she wouldn't be surprised... You on the other hand are Head Girl and after you're...er... talk with McGonagall... you shouldn't let her see you walking around in James' clothes.'

Lily nodded and took Remus' arm. She felt the horrible tightening sensation, and then they were in Honeydukes' cellar.

'Remus! Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to Apparate directly into a building?'

'Sorry,' he grimaced, 'but we can't be seen out of school.' Lily frowned considering his words, and then nodded. 'So... How are you feeling?'

'A little better,' Lily lied. 'But I think I'll need some of Sirius' Recovery Potion.'

Remus nodded. 'If Prongs didn't drink it all...'

Lily massaged her head. 'If he knows what's good for him, he'll have left me some- What?'

Remus had stopped walking, and was watching as if measuring her. 'I still can't believe that the supposedly perfect Lily Evans has gone and got herself drunk.'

Lily frowned. 'Oh. I thought you had something important to say,' and then grinned, to let him know she was teasing. 'Clearly James is a bad influence... corrupting my innocence and all.'

Remus grinned a very knowing smile, 'I think it's the other way around actually.'

Now Lily stopped. 'What do you mean?'

Remus smirked. 'Until last night, James has never had a drop of alcohol.'

Lily laughed. 'Sure, Remus.'

'No, really! I'm not joking.'

'You're being serious?'

'No. Sirius-' Lily silenced him with a look. 'All right, but I am telling the truth...'

Lily was taken aback by his sincerity. 'Are you sure?'

Remus nodded. 'Wormy and I drink occasionally, Paddy drinks religiously, but James has never had a drop.'

'But all the stories... about those two getting drunk and-'

'They are exactly that, Lily,' Remus said calmly. 'Stories. James doesn't need to be incapacitated to do stupid things and go along with the rest of us. He does it because he can. If he disapproves he'll tell us. That's how he saved Sni- Snape's life.' A haunted look came into Remus' eye.

'But why didn't James tell everyone that he wasn't as,' Lily grinned, 'poorly behaved, as the rest of you?'

'Would you have believed him?' Lily shook her head. 'Exactly. So he went along with it. He hated it for a while, but then he got over it, and learned how to act untouchable.'

Lily's heart felt like it had melted. She just wanted to find James and hug him. 'Why though?'

'Prongs likes control too much. He would hate to lose control of his mind or body.'

'Sure.'

'No. I know you don't believe it, but he actually likes to know how everything is going to work out. Every prank... everything he says. Prongs isn't dumb. He thinks things through. He likes taking risks, but getting caught is different to hurting someone. James would never do any permanent damage to anyone.'

'What about Severus?'

Remus shrugged. 'They've always hated each other. I don't think they can help it... it's just instinct, but again, James has never caused him any permanent physical harm. Snape on the other hand has tried to use Unforgivables and Merlin-knows what else...'

'But James always starts it,' Lily said sadly.

'Sometimes, but he is often provoked. While James is not a subtle person himself,' Lily grinned at this point, 'he is not oblivious. He picks up on the little things.'

Something was bothering Lily, but she couldn't figure out what until her head settled a little. 'Why did he start drinking last night? What could have set him off?' Remus helped her out of the witches hump and then sealed it.

Remus looked thoughtful and then asked, in a very quiet voice, 'Had you been talking about his parents?'

Lily thought for a moment. 'Yes,' she whispered. 'But only in passing. He said his mother taught him to dance. Could something like that have done it?'

Remus sighed. 'Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it.'

'Wise words, Mr Lupin. Miss Evans.' Albus Dumbledore tipped his hat in greeting.

Lily jumped, 'Oh, Hello, Professor.' Remus also stuttered a greeting.

'I do not believe you are wearing your proper school uniform, Miss Evans.' Lily began to apologise but Dumbledore waved a hand, 'Never mind, never mind. Perhaps you, like me, find that wearing clothing other than wizard –or witch's- robes allows you to think better. Apparently Mr Potter believes that pyjama pants are best for stimulating his mental aptitude.' He winked and walked away.

Lily gaped at Remus and the two of them broke into a run as they headed for the common room.


	32. Chapter 32

'Ahhh!' Sirius yelled. James saw Lily, who was sitting with Alice and Frank glance his way before returning to her dinner. 'Kreacher! What the hell are you doing here?'

'Kreacher has come to give Master a message.'

Sirius' eyes narrowed, and he looked at James who shrugged.

'Well Reg isn't in Gryffindor. He's in Slytherin. The Slytherin table is over there,' Sirius told the little Elf as he returned to his dinner.

'Kreacher is not here to speak with Master Regulus,' Kreacher's eyes filled with tears. 'Kreacher has come to speak with the other Master.' He gave Sirius a very dirty look. 'Kreacher is here to speak to Master Sirius, oh yes, oh yes. Kreacher wishes he didn't have to come because Master Sirius is a bad, unpredictable boy who broke Mistress' heart. But Kreacher listens to poor Mistress, and Kreacher comes to find bad Master.'

Sirius caught James' eye. As if it were planned, both boys stood, grabbed one of Kreacher's arms each, and carried him out of the Great Hall. Once the three of them were tucked away in a corridor off the Entrance Hall, Sirius turned to Kreacher.

'What does my mother want to say?'

'Mistress sent Kreacher to tell Master Sirius that Master Regulus is dead. Gone,' croaked the Elf. He collapsed to the ground and started beating his head against the cold marble floor. Sirius blinked and then buried his head in his hands.

'Kreacher, stop!' James shouted, trying to hold the Elf upright.

'Kreacher does not take orders from Master Sirius' friends. They are bad boys who encourage his lawless behaviours!' The Elf shrieked.

'Kreacher, shut up and I forbid you to punish yourself!' Sirius bellowed. The Elf stopped thrashing immediately. His heavy panting filled the room. James slumped against the wall.

'I reckon he's got orders not to tell anyone about Reg, Pads,' James panted.

Sirius looked at James thoughtfully, with red rimmed eyes. 'From who though?'

James shrugged, 'Your mother?'

'Nah, she sent him... Kreacher, who forbade you to talk about Reg's death?'

'Master Regulus.'

'How did Regulus die?'

'Master said Kreacher was not to speak of it. Kreacher will honour Master's final orders,' the Elf said, looking angrily at Sirius.

'Were you there when he died?' Kreacher's eyes narrowed and he nodded. Sirius shook the Elf roughly. 'Why didn't you help him?' The Elf dissolved into tears. Sirius let go of him in disgust.

'Did he die, or was he killed?' Sirius asked shrewdly. Kreacher's eyes widened. 'Answer me!'

'Killed.'

'By who?' Sirius demanded shaking the Elf. 'This didn't happen at school, did it?'

'No, Master.'

Kreacher shot James a dirty look. James nodded in understanding and turned to leave, but Sirius said 'No! James is family too. You can tell him whatever you tell me!' Kreacher made an attempt at a bow. 'Answer my question.'

'Master Regulus has been coming home, every weekend since the holidays, to check on Kreacher.'

'Why?' Sirius looked at James in alarm.

'Because Master Regulus is a good boy and is kind to House-Elves!' Kreacher said nastily before continuing. 'Master Regulus didn't like his Master anymore. Master Regulus tried to get out. Master Regulus was brave, but he could not escape.' The Elf gave a wail of despair and vanished with a loud CRACK, just as Remus, Peter and Lily came running toward them.

'How did you-?' James began, but Remus waved the Marauders Map in his face, and James nodded.

'Are you all right, Paddy?' Remus asked. Sirius was white as a sheet, but managed to nod. 'What happened?'

'Reg is dead.'

Lily gasped, and stepped closer to James. 'Oh, Sirius! That's awful!' she said, tears filling her green eyes.

Sirius nodded blankly. 'It sounds like Reg decided he didn't want to be a Death Eater anymore,' he said in a hollow voice. 'So Voldemort killed him, or got someone else to kill him.'

'I'm sorry, Padfoot,' Remus said heavily.

'Don't be. Reg chose his path. If he was regretting his choice when he died, then I can be proud of him.' Sirius looked at James. 'If you'll excuse me, I have a letter to write.' Despite the dire situation, he and James laughed.

* * *

'Okay, how does this sound?' Sirius asked James, who was leaning against the wall of the Owlery.

'_You hateful old shrew! You deserve nothing less than to sit alone in Grimmauld Place with only Kreacher for company! For as long as I can remember, you have been preaching the supposed values of Voldemort to poor Reg. You raised him as a Death Eater, and look where it's landed him. Dead! You don't deserve the sympathy of others for the death of your son because you -being the evil, vindictive creature that you are- caused it.._

_He could have had a future, a wife, a family and you have ruined that for him! Your stupid, arrogant Pure-Blood pride has led to the early and untimely death of your _only_ son, and I hope that thought will haunt you for the rest of your spite-fuelled life!'_

James shrugged. 'It's not exactly subtle, bu-'

'Excellent.' Sirius folded the piece of parchment, dropped in into an envelope which he sealed with a red piece of wax, stamped in the shape of the Gryffindor coat of arms. 'Now... let me see...'he muttered several spells, one of which would make the letter a Howler, one that would make the Howler reform itself and repeat its message every few days, and one that would not allow the letter to be vanished or otherwise disposed of.

'Mongoose,' Sirius walked over to a sleek, black owl, which stuck out its leg for the letter. 'Thanks. Can you take this to,' he grimaced, 'my mother.'

The owl, Mongoose, nibbled affectionately on his finger and took off through the Owlery window, clipping James with her wing as she passed.

* * *

'Oh! She's so pretty!' Lily cooed as the owl landed on their table at breakfast. 'What's her name?' The owl looked pleased by the attention, and took a bite of the toast Lily was offering.

Sirius, who had been untying the letter, looked up smirking. 'Her name's Mongoose.'

'What?'

'Mongoose,' James said, 'Like the little fluffy animals.'

Lily frowned. 'Why?' She couldn't imagine Sirius naming his owl after a fluffy little rodent.

Remus grinned at Sirius, and then at Lily. 'Because mongooses eat snakes.'

Lily looked completely bemused for a moment, and then started to laugh. 'What does the letter say?' James asked, leaning closer to Sirius.

Sirius shrugged and crumpled it. 'The usual. I'm a disappointment, she wishes it had been me instead of Reg, I'm a stain on the noble family tree of Black.' Lily laughed again, thinking he was joking. 'Oh, this one's new!' He held up a little plaque. 'Toujours Contamine. Hah! She says it can be my new family motto.' He subsided into a fit of laughter.

James and Remus were mouthing "Toujours Contamine", trying to figure out what it meant, until finally, they both grinned.

'What is it?' Lily and Peter asked.

'Always,' James said.

'Tainted,' Remus finished.

Sirius had managed to pull himself together. 'The Black family motto is "Toujours Pur", which means "always pure". I think my mother is trying to be funny... Stupid old witch.' He burnt the letter with his wand, and transfigured the plaque into a large, fat beetle, which he levitated over to the Slytherin table. He let it drop into a big tureen of soup.


	33. Chapter 33

'Lily!' Lily rolled her eyes and twisted in her seat to look at Sirius.

'What?' she hissed back. She didn't wait for an answer before returning her attention to her notes; exams were one month away.

'Will you come to Reg's funeral with me?'

Lily frowned, and turned to face him, looking curious. 'You're actually going? Even though you hate your mother?'

Sirius grinned. 'It's not her funeral... Although I'd definitely go to that... just to make sure she was dead. Crazy old bat. But yes, I am going. Will you come with me? As my girlfriend?'

'What!' Lily shrieked.

'Is there a problem here, Ms Evans?' Professor Flitwick asked, coming to stand next to Lily. His head was the same height as her desk.

'No, no, Professor; everything's fine. I just didn't realise Bedazzling jinxes could be used to create invisibility cloaks,' she said meekly.

'Yes,' Flitwick said happily. 'Well, I'm glad to see your learning something.' He trotted back down the aisle. Lily returned her attention to Sirius, her green eyes alive with venom.

'I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that,' she snarled under her breath, casting a look at James who was chatting with Remus and Peter at the back of the classroom. 'But I'll have you know my opinion of you just dropped to a new low. I'm dating your best friend!'

Sirius, though, seemed utterly at ease. 'Relax, Lils. I know you're with James and it's nice to know you're loyal. And I didn't mean you should come as my real girlfriend; just as a fake one. It'll bother my mum that you're muggle-born. What do you say? Can you take a few insults? Pleeeeeeease?'

'Oh.' Lily relaxed, 'Umm... well, I'll think about it. Will Remus and James be there?'

'Yep. I need moral support after-all.'

'Right.' Lily smiled, and cast her charm on the cloak she was practicing on. It vanished, but she could still feel it in her hand.

'Ten points to Gryffindor!' Flickwick said cheerfully, beaming at her.

'Can I have ten points too, Professor?' Sirius asked.

'Your cloak is still there, Mr Black.'

'Oh,' Sirius said thoughtfully. 'I can see your point. Caceus Pereo.' His cloak vanished just as Lily's had.

Flitwick clapped and awarded him ten points as well. James and Remus earned points when they repeated the feat. Amos Diggory and Rita Skeeter also managed.

Peter, who had watched on enviously as James and Remus succeeded, cleared his throat and gave his wand a wave. A jet of black ink sprayed out of the end of Peter's wand and covered Remus and James.

The dark haired marauder and the sandy haired marauder looked at each other for a moment, and then roared with laughter. Peter's shrill apologies were barely audible over their noises of merriment.

'Terego,' Flitwick said firmly, siphoning the ink off of the two of them. 'Please be a little more careful next time, Mr Pettigrew.'

'Yes, sir,' Peter squeaked.

'And you two. You are N.E.W.T. students. Please try to be a little more serious.'

James, Remus and Peter all looked at each other. Remus' mouth twitched, but before he could say anything Lily shouted, 'Don't you dare!'

'Pardon, Miss Evans?' Lily blushed.

'Sorry, sir. It's just that James was trying to sneak his Bedazzled cloak into his bag,' she lied.

James smirked, 'Sorry, Professor. I think you should take this,' he held out the cloak, 'or I'll be too sorely tempted.'

'You've never said wiser words, Potter,' Flitwick shivered for effect, 'I shudder to think what an invisibility cloak could do in your hands.' He tugged the cloak out of James' grip.

Lily looked down at her notes to hide his smile, but Sirius was not as subtle; he had fallen out of his chair and was crying with mirth on the classroom floor.


	34. Chapter 34

'You're not welcome here.' Walburga Black glared at her son, dressed in bright red dress robes, adorned with flashing golden stars. James and Remus were likewise attired. Lily, after much persuasion had agreed to wear gold dress robes, instead of the customary black.

'Nice to see you too, mother,' Sirius drawled. 'Allow me to introduce my girlfriend, Lily Evans.' Lily was awkwardly clinging to his arm and smiled at Mrs Black.

'She looks a lot like the woman in that photograph on your wall,' Mrs Black said accusingly.

Sirius smirked and Lily could hear James laughing behind her. 'She's not.'

'Are you pure-blood?' Walburga Black asked bluntly.

'No,' Lily said brightly. 'My parents are muggles.'

The skin around Mrs Black's eyes tightened. Her claw-like hand twitched too, toward her wand, Lily thought. 'What do you think you're doing inviting a Mudblood to Regulus' funeral?' the old woman hissed. Lily recoiled, but Sirius patted her hand.

'I thought I'd bring as many people to mourn him as possible,' Sirius gestured to Lily and the other two marauders who waved cheerfully at the old woman, 'I remembered you can't mourn, so I took the liberty of arranging guests that can.'

'I ought to bury you with your brother! Save myself the heartache!' Walburga shrieked. 'One son dead and one a failure! What am I supposed to do?'

Sirius looked at her thoughtfully. 'That's the first time you've acknowledged me as your son since you burned me off the family tree... I'm not sure about the heartache thing though; I was always under the impression you kept yourself alive on the misery of others... rather like a Dementor... As for what you should do... Hmmm... perhaps you could die; do the world a favour.'

Mrs Black's eyes bulged. 'Anything else?'

'Yes, actually,' Sirius said, 'I'm glad we're burying Reg. James owes me two Galleons; he was betting we'd add Regulus' head to the wall, like we do with House-Elves.' Mrs Black began to shake violently, with what Lily was fairly sure was anger. The woman sent a very angry look toward James, and then walked off without another word. 'Always fun to meet family,' Sirius said pleasantly. 'Oh, look. Bella's here.' He towed Lily toward Bellatrix Rosier, who stiffened at the sight of him.

'Black,' she sneered.

'Bella. You're looking particularly dark and gloomy today. How's the Death Eater thing working out? Does Voldy pay you well?'

'You can laugh, cousin, but you'll die that way.'

'I'd love to die laughing,' Sirius said dryly. 'You and your pals can arrange that, right? Give me a cheerful death?' He smiled humourlessly.

'Of course.' Lily didn't think she was joking.

'And I'll return the favour.' Sirius was definitely not joking.

'How can you if you're dead?' she asked softly. 'Besides, I wouldn't really care much for a cheerful send-off.'

'Exactly.'

'I'd rather not die at all. Things would be easier that way.'

Sirius wrinkled his nose. 'Creepy. I thought you'd have realised everyone dies eventually,' he smiled darkly at her. 'Although, I suppose some, like you, just need a little bit more of a... push.'

'Off of a cliff,' James laughed appearing behind Lily.

'Without a broom,' Sirius added. Bellatrix shrugged and walked away, her dark hair rippling behind her. Sirius childishly stuck his tongue out at her back, followed by a rude hand gesture. 'Oooh! My mother's unoccupied. I need to go and tell her about my enlightening term,' he winked and put on an innocent expression. 'Did you know muggle studies is my favourite subject?'

'You don't take muggle studies!' Remus laughed.

'She doesn't need to know that though. Besides, I learned an awful lot about lamps at Lily's place... I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear about it!'

'Well that was interesting,' Lily said quietly. James squeezed her hand.

'Yes, we've never taken that short-cut before,' Sirius said.

'What? No, I meant the funeral.'

'Oh, yes, interesting is one word for it. Shame Peter couldn't have come. I think my mother would've liked him...'

'He's been acting strangely lately,' James said thoughtfully. 'He-'

'Where are we?' Remus asked suddenly.

'Aww, is the big bad werewolf afraid?' Sirius mocked.

'No. I'm just wondering where we are. It's very... blue here.' It was. The walls were painted blue, and the statues were all adorned with blue crests or clothing.

'A door!' James said excitedly. 'See...' He pointed at a plain wooden door, with a brass knocker. He froze. 'I think this is the Ravenclaw common-room entrance.'

'Oh, yes,' Remus said thoughtfully. 'We found this place in second year, but that Grey Lady ghost shooed us away. She's a grumpy one.' Sirius and James nodded.

'Shall we try to get in then?' James asked.

'Yes, but we shouldn't actually go in. The fact that we can will be enough.'

'I don't think we should,' Lily said, biting her lip. 'It's not our place. I wouldn't like it if a Ravenclaw came into our common room.'

'Yes, but we're Heads, we can go anywhere. Besides, we might not be able to get in anyway.'

'Well that's easily sorted.' Sirius walked up to the door and bashed the knocker against it. 'Er... hello. Can we come in?'

A cool, feminine voice spoke, 'That depends. What is always coming, but never arrives, is always the day after and not the day before?'

Lily smiled. 'See. We can't get in.' Sirius, James and Remus moved into a little huddle and were whispering to each other.

Finally, they all turned and grinned at the door. 'Is it Tomorrow?' they asked in synchronisation.

'Well puzzled,' the door answered. It swung open. Lily was upset she had not realised it was a riddle.

The three marauders grinned at each other and then Remus said, 'Actually, we changed our minds. You can close. We're sorry for disturbing you.'

The door swung shut with a loud click.

'So,' James said casually. 'Do you want to find the Slytherin common room tomorrow?'

Sirius shrugged. 'Only if we can set up a trap or something... the thought of spending time there isn't very appealing...'

'I'm picturing Dungbombs... and Wet-start fireworks. Possibly a few Nifflers.'

'Nifflers?' Remus asked.

'Oh, yes. You were away that lesson; Nifflers like shiny things. I'd bet my Cleansweep that the Slytherins have a piles of valuables tucked away in there,' James said, a mischievous smile spreading over his face.

'I like it, Prongs,' Sirius said happily. He suddenly seemed to remember Lily was there. 'But we'll have to keep your girlfriend hostage until it's over, or she might tell someone. I can't imagine this information would go down well with Minnie...'

'That worked brilliantly, Moony!' Remus had come up with the idea of fabricating a Charms essay. All four marauders had adamantly insisted that, with everything else going on, it must have slipped Lily's mind. They also told her they had finished it, and were going down to play Quidditch. Lily was now safely in the common room, trying to finish the essay, and the marauders were off to find the Slytherin common room.

Peter was gazing at Remus in awe, a rather impressive feat because all four of them were bundled under James' invisibility cloak, each laden with dungbombs, fireworks and, in James' case, a cuddly Niffler.


	35. Chapter 35

'Please,' Lily begged. 'James, I don't want to go alone!'

'Don't go at all,' James suggested. 'I'm sure we can find a better way for you to spend your time...' He winked and Lily swatted at his arm half-heartedly.

'Are you my boyfriend or not?' she demanded.

'Er... Lils, were you not just listening-'

'If you're my boyfriend then you will come with me.'

'But it'll be boring!' James whined, sounding like a five-year old.

'No it won't be,' Lily said cajolingly, 'Remus got an invitation too, and Sirius can get a date with one of the girls who is invited. Peter-'

'Peter's still being strange. I can go a night without seeing him,' James face darkened as he spoke.

Lily squeezed his hand. 'I'm sorry, but please come! I hate going to Slughorn's parties alone... that prat Lockhart always tries to get me to go out with him; he's worse than you!'

James snickered, 'I still don't think Moony's going to want to go.'

'Tell him there will be chocolate,' Lily suggested, pleased that she was going to get him to come. 'It is an Easter party after-all.'

* * *

Lily watched as her Quick-Quotes-Quill danced across her parchment. Next to her, Alice was watching Professor Binns raptly. Lily had to admire her perseverance. The classroom door swung open with a little squeak, making Lily jump.

James, Sirius and Remus sauntered in, conjured seats and sat down, facing Lily. Binns did not even blink. Alice rolled her eyes and tried to look around Sirius to see the board.

'So, Lily Evans wants the marauders to come to one of Slughorn's parties?' Sirius asked with an unusually businesslike expression on his face. Several students looked over at them and laughed.

'Umm... yes,' Lily said uncertainly.

James smirked, 'You either do or you don't.'

'I want James to come, and I think I have more chance of getting him to agree if you two are going to be there.'

'Fair enough,' Remus said, nodding.

'I'm right here you know,' James grumbled.

'So you'll come?'

'We didn't say that,' Sirius said speaking for both he and Remus, 'we just said your plan has merit.'

'Surely as pranksters you can appreciate a good plan, and my plan is both well thought out, and also beneficial,' Lily whispered, smiling. 'If James doesn't come, I won't be happy, which means he won't be happy. I'd have thought you'd want your friend to be happy, especially considering Easter night is coming... and an unhappy James could mean a hurt Sirius or Peter which in turn makes them unhappy and that would make Remus unhappy...'

Sirius groaned. 'You had to fall for the smart one, Prongs.' He, James and Remus looked at each other and grinned. 'We'll be there, Lily. If you'll excuse us... I need to find dates for Sirius and Remus.'

Lily watched, bemused as they stood, vanished their chairs and walked to the door. The three of them waved to Lily, bowed to their little audience (the entire History of Magic class, except for Alice and Peter who was sleeping).

Grinning at the other two, James pulled out his wand, flicked it at Peter and then, laughing, sprinted after Remus and Sirius.

Peter stirred at the sound of the laughter and looked around confusedly at the rest of the class who were laughing. Poor Peter didn't realise his ears were now flashing blue and red. Lily thought the effect was rather like that of a police siren and decided not to repair the damage; it was rather clever magic.

* * *

'Dashing, Mr Potter. Miss Evans, you look lovely,' Slughorn said happily as they arrived at his office door. James rolled his eyes, fiddling absently with his dress-robes. Lily squeezed his hand.

'Are Remus and his date here yet?' James asked Slughorn impatiently.

'No...'

James' mouth twitched. 'That'll be Ebony... slowing him up again. Let's go, Lils.'

'Who's Ebony?' Lily asked. She was certain there was no one named Ebony at Hogwarts; as Head Girl she knew most of the older students by name. She frowned, unable to imagine Remus bringing a first or second year student.

'Remus's date for tonight,' James said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'I got that much,' Lily grumbled, 'who is she?'

'Ebony Grave- Oh, look, there they are,' James grinned and gestured to Remus, who was looking quite smart in grey dress robes. Standing next to him was a tall, black-haired girl that looked oddly familiar but that Lily was sure she had never seen before. Ebony's grey eyes looked curiously over at Lily and James.

James towed Lily over to them, 'Hi guys,' he said, grinning at Remus. 'Ebony, this is Lily, Lily, this is Ebony.'

'Nice to meet you,' Ebony said huskily.

'You too,' Lily said, looking uncertainly at James who was laughing now.


	36. Chapter 36

'So.. Ebony, which house are you in?' Lily asked tentatively. The dark haired girl looked over at Lily, her stormy eyes almost amused. Lily hoped James and Remus would be back soon with drinks.

'Gryffindor. Why?'

'I've never seen you before... Are you a sixth year?'

'No,' Ebony said, looking puzzled. 'I'm a seventh year.'

'No you're not!' Lily said bewildered. 'I'm a seventh year and you are certainly not in my dormitory.'

Ebony cursed. 'Oh, damn, you are too. Right, well I'm a sixth year then.'

'What's the password to the Gryffindor common room?' Lily asked, not believing this girl one bit.

'Cocoa,' Ebony sniffed, now thoroughly disinterested in the conversation. 'So, you and James?'

'Yes,' Lily said frowning a little, 'Why do you ask?'

'Curious I suppose... have you gone further than snogging?'

'This isn't any of your business!' Lily said, blushing.

'Is that a yes?'

'No! No, we haven't done anything other than snogging.' Lily desperately wanted to change the direction of the conversation. 'How do you know Remus?'

'Sirius Black introduced us,' a soppy look covered Ebony's face, 'I really like him. He's so funny, and smart and good-looking, don't you think?' Her thin eyebrows were raised in a questioning way that was almost teasing.

'Umm... sure.' Lily doubted the girl would react in a positive manner if she said no.

'Ha! I knew it!'

'Knew what?' James asked, coming over with Remus. Lily sighed in relief.

'Your girlfriend thinks Sirius Black is attractive.'

James laughed. 'Not as attractive as me though, I'm sure.' Lily smiled gratefully. 'Don't you think I'm attractive, Ebony?' Lily's eyes narrowed.

The dark haired girl thought for a moment. 'Well... once you get past the arrogant mask, the obsessive hair ruffling, the funny glasses, the know-it-all attitude and the whole prankster thing then yes, I would say I find you quite attractive.'

Lily expected James to be angry, or pull out his wand and hex the supposed-Gryffindor, she did not however, expect he and Remus to start laughing. But they did.

'And – and w-what is it,' James gasped, 'that you like about dear Remy?'

Ebony laughed as if the question was some sort of personal joke between the three of them, 'His shy, yet joking manner, his studious qualities, his soft, sandy tresses... and his mysterious aura.' Ebony sighed almost wistfully. Remus was finding this all very funny. Lily was quite uncomfortable; she didn't know anything about this Ebony girl... yet somehow Ebony knew about her and was on joking terms with the marauders.

'James, can I talk to you?'

'Sure, Lils. We'll be right back, Moony.'

'You kids have fun!' Ebony called. Lily shuddered.

'James, who is that girl?'

James laughed, 'You haven't figured it out yet?'

'Figured what out?'

'Nothing,' James said innocently.

'James Potter, I-'

'Let's dance,' James said quickly, before Lily could draw her wand. He twirled Lily onto the dancefloor, into line beside Remus and Ebony. They were dancing quite strangely, both holding onto each other's shoulders. In comparison, James' hands were quite low down Lily's back...

Lily caught a snippet of the other couple's conversation, which sounded more like an argument:

'Remus, I want to lead.'

'Girls don't lead and you're a girl, remember?' Remus said laughing. Ebony pouted.

'I still think I should lead- ouch! Remus, I taught you better than to step on my feet! Merlin, it's hard to find a good date these days!'

'I could say the same,' Remus said dryly, and stomped as hard as he could on Ebony's foot. He grinned at James as they danced past. James laughed. Lily was shocked to see Remus treating his date this poorly.

'Oh, James! Good!' Ebony said loudly, 'I cannot dance with this oaf anymore! You've always been a far better dancer! Switch!'

James rolled his eyes, 'Sure.' He smiled down at Lily, who he reluctantly let go of. She pouted up at him, almost getting him to change his mind but Remus came and danced away with her.

Lily watched as Ebony and James tangoed through the middle of the dancefloor, quite elegantly, but also quite roughly; they knocked over several other students and Professor Flitwick in the process. Remus laughed.

'Who is that?' Lily asked, grinding her teeth. 'If I didn't know better, I would say one of you has a long lost relative come to visit.'

'Not quite,' Remus laughed, 'but you're getting closer.'

Lily sighed. 'James seems to like her.' Remus snorted with laughter, but didn't comment. 'Remus!' Lily said, sounding quite hysterical now.

'He likes you better, Lils,' he assured her. 'Remember when you asked us to come to this stupid party, you said you wanted James to have fun, and not get bored. Does he look bored to you?'

'No,' Lily said sulkily. 'Speaking of asking you, where's Sirius?'

'_He _couldn't come... I like to think he's here in spirit though...' Remus looked down at Lily as if expecting something. He sighed when she looked confused. 'Never mind.' He looked back out onto the dancefloor and snorted quietly.

Ebony had left James and was now performing a rather inappropriate dance in the middle of the floor. Several students were beside themselves with laughter (like James and Remus) and several were quite disapproving.

Then, Ebony did something quite unexpected. She grabbed the bottom of her dress robes and started to hoist them up. Lily covered her eyes and turned away, but James voice was in her ear, whispering, 'It's all right, Lils, look.'

She peeked out at the girl through one eye, to find her still fully clothed, having been wearing another set of dress robes underneath. She tossed the discarded pair at Remus, who dropped them immediately.

'James, unless you were looking, how did you know it was safe to look?' Lily hissed. James grinned.

'Trust me, and watch.'

Lily watched and was soon laughing as the antics unfolded: Despite having not looked bulky at the beginning of the night, Ebony stripped off layer after layer of dress-robes, ball gowns, Quidditch robes, school robes, a cocktail dress and finally a long white wedding dress. She then opened the pocket of her fallen school robes, climbed inside, and disappeared.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments and then anxious chatter broke out. 'Where did she go?' Lily asked James nervously. James grinned, and a few moment later, Ebony Grave walked in through Slughorn's office door. She was greeted by a large round of applause.

She then pulled out her wand and cast two spells loudly: 'Caninus Morphus! Staglino Assumance!' James and Remus yelled loudly, and then there was a flash of blinding white light.

When Lily was able to see again James and Remus were gone.


	37. Chapter 37

When Lily was next able to see again, James and Remus were gone.

Ebony was still standing there, chest heaving and wand outstretched, but where James and Remus had been, there stood a black shaggy dog, and a tall, handsome stag.

'Prongs,' Lily breathed, having never seen James transform before. The stag nuzzled her cheek, licking her gently, before letting out a confused bleating sound. The dog looked around at everyone, whimpered and then went to hide under a table. Lily was confused. The dog was Sirius, but he had not been there, and if the dog was Sirius, then where was Remus? Lily settled for looking worried.

McGonagall was livid. 'You are not to do magic outside of lessons!' she bellowed at Ebony, who winced. 'What have you done to them?'

Ebony shrugged and pocketed her wand and then disappeared with a loud CRACK. 'Did she just Disapparate, Professor?' A fourth year asked.

'Miss Evans, will you kindly help me clear the room?' Lily nodded woodenly and ushered the students out, until it was only the stag, dog, herself, McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn and a Hufflepuff third year named Gilderoy Lockhart who insisted he could change them back.

'This is advanced magic, Mr Lockhart,' McGonagall said curtly, 'Third years will be more hindrance than help here.' Lockhart opened his mouth to protest, but the Head of Gryffindor spoke again in a somewhat kinder voice. 'It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.' The blonde boy frowned and shuffled out.

'I believe this is your area of expertise, Minerva,' Flitwick said anxiously, rubbing his little hands together.

'Yes,' McGonagall sounded as if she had a head cold. 'I didn't recognise the spells though... and that student that Disapparated must have been powerful to overthrow Albus' enchantments. Slughorm nodded, ashen.

The stag bleated again and came to stand next to Lily. McGonagall smiled, 'At least we can be sure it is them. The stag is certainly Mr Potter, and it is somewhat fitting if you think about it... as for the dog, I am sure that girl thought it funny to play on Mr Lupin's ailment, though how she found out I don't know...' The other teachers nodded.

'She was Mr Lupin's date this evening,' Slughorn said quietly. 'Her name was Ebony Grave.'

McGonagall's nostrils flared. 'I think I know now what we are dealing with.' She waved her wand. There was another bright flash of light; 'That wasn't meant to happen,' she muttered, but then Remus and James were standing there in only their pyjama pants, shivering slightly James came and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her fiery head. Ebony Grave also emerged from behind a table. 'Petrificus Totalis!' Flitwick shouted, McGonagall and Slughorn all shouted, pointing their wands at Ebony. Remus and James looked at each other and laughed as Ebony crashed to the ground, blinking indignantly.

'Ebony Grave,' McGonagall said, looking amused. Lily was shocked at her tone. She had been expecting anger.

'I'm not sure that I follow you, Minerva,' Slughorn said uneasily.

'Ebony is a synonym for black. Grave means sombre or... serious. Sirius Black.' Lily felt James shake with silent laughter. Lily looked at Ebony again and started to see Sirius. The eyes were the same, but more feminine (did he have mascara on?), the nose was slightly shorter, the height was the same, the hair was the same although the curls were arranged a little more neatly. Lily was sure Sirius had plucked his eyebrows.

McGonagall waved her wand and Sirius' features returned to normal. She removed the body-binding curse, but put an unlockable charm on the door.

Sirius sat up. 'Hi, Professor. Lovely night tonight isn't it?' James and Remus snorted with laughter. James buried his face in Lily's hair. Lily wondered how they could all be so calm and light-hearted in such severe circumstances.

'Where is Mr Pettigrew?' McGonagall asked.

'He's not in on this one... He didn't get an invite,' Remus said cheerfully, but it was blatantly obvious that he was telling the truth. It was also obvious that his smile was more than a little forced at the mention of Peter.

'Very well. Explain yourselves.'

Sirius nodded, 'It's all Lily's fault.' James and Remus nodded in agreement.

'Mine?' Lily screeched. 'I had nothing to do with it. Why are you throwing me to the tigers?' she hissed at James.

'She's a tabby cat actually...'

'Miss Evans, did you have any part in this?'

Lily shook her head violently. 'I asked James to come with me tonight and I suggested Sirius and Remus come to keep him company. I had no other part in it.'

'Did you know Ebony Grave?'

'No, Professor.'

'She didn't,' Remus laughed. 'Didn't you see her face when you were explaining it to Slughorn?'

'Priceless,' Sirius chortled.

'Explain yourselves,' McGonagall said again.

'Well, Remus wasn't going to come unless he could get a date,' Sirius began, 'he was too shy to ask anyone... for obvious reasons,' Remus reddened. 'I also needed a date, so we decided to go together. I had to be the girl because Remy was the one with the invitation,' he sounded annoyed at this. 'James came up with the name, and we all cast some concealment charms... good practice for N.E.W.T.S. and for when we're Aurors... and then we came here.'

'And the clothing changes?'

'Easy,' James said, 'I had my wand in my sleeve and was casting charms to replace the clothing he was taking off... He only had three real layers to begin with. The school robe pocket had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it... the inside of it is about as big as the Gryffindor common room. Sirius went in there, where my House Elf Mildred was waiting. She Disapparated with Sirius to a storeroom and then he walked in again.'

'Why didn't we hear it?' Flitwick asked, intrigued.

'Silencing charm, cast by Sirius once he was inside. We heard them Apparate outside and removed the Extension charm once they were outside, in case anyone checked the pocket.' McGonagall's hollow cheeks reddened. James beamed.

'Then,' Remus said, 'Sirius cast a basic transfiguration spell on each of us. I made the white light so that you wouldn't see me cast a Disillusionment Jinx on Mildred, who was in a back corner. She then Apparated with Sirius again and you changed us back.' Lily was sure there was more to it, but knew now was not the time to ask.

McGonagall blinked, and then, looking irritated said, 'You haven't broken any school rules.'

James, Remus and Sirius laughed. 'We know! That's the best part, and the only reason we confessed. We've decided that, when caught, we will confess because that will make our legacy live on... and it means that you'll know just how ingenious we can be before we leave for good.'

'What about magic outside of classrooms, Minerva? Attacking another student? Impersonating another student? Illegal use of school Elves?' Slughorn asked.

James shook his head. 'We're of age, Professor, and we didn't cause any damage with the spells we cast... we didn't attack each other because there is willing consent from each of us to have the spells performed... Ebony Grave is not a student here, so we weren't impersonating anyone else... and if you think using House Elves is breaking the rules, Millie is my Elf, so it's all legal.'

'I actually think you should deserve a detention, Fillius,' Sirius said lightly. 'You attacked a student, me, when you did that body-bind jinx.'

'Student safety was at risk,' McGonagall said stiffly.

'No, it wasn't,' James said.

'From our point of view it was,' Flitwick said firmly.

'No,' Remus said, 'when we duel in the corridors our safety may or may not be at risk, but we get detention anyway, because what we did was wrong, no matter how we reasoned our actions. We accept that. It's time for you to do the same.'

The three teachers looked at each other and slowly, reluctantly, nodded.


	38. Chapter 38

Sirius cleared his throat, sounding very teacher-like as he paced in front of McGonagall, Slughorn and Flitwick. 'You will do your detentions at breakfast time, in the Great Hall. You will write three-hundred lines, with chalk, on blackboards. You will do this without the aid of magic.' Lily realised the marauders would have the rules of punishments memorised for occasions like this one.

'Fillius,' Remus said, 'Your lines will be "_I will not attack students"_.' Flitwick nodded glumly.

'Horace,' Sirius said, 'Your lines will be "_Gryffindors are more capable, ingenious and intelligent than Slytherins. For this reason, I will never again invite Lily Evans to a party"._' Lily laughed.

'Bu-'

'No buts,' Remus said sternly. 'The school rules clearly state that detention lines must be relevant to the reason for punishment. We have pulled off a prank, without breaking school rules, but it was still effective, something no Slytherin could have done. This whole thing was brought about by you inviting Lily, so you must learn your lesson. You will write the lines assigned to you by Sirius.'

'Minerva,' James said, 'Your lines will be "_I was outsmarted by the marauders. Again."_.' McGonagall smiled a little, looking dignified, despite the circumstances.

'Are we clear?' Sirius asked. The three teachers nodded. 'Good. Now off to bed with all of you.' He clapped his hands in a very good impression of McGonagall. The teachers filed out of the room, muttering to themselves.

'That,' Sirius said.

'Was,' James said.

'Brilliant!' Remus yelled.

James hugged Lily and swung her around. The three left the office and made their way up the dungeon stairs. Upon entering the Entrance Hall, they could hear Filch screaming at the three teachers. It sounded to Lily like he thought they were the marauders. Sirius whistled innocently, and neither James nor Remus would meet her eye.

'What did you do?'

'He might be Confounded...' Lily watched as McGonagall pulled out her wand and tried to counter-curse Filch who was screaming about giving them all detentions. Lily didn't like Filch, so she didn't bother telling them off.

'So how did you switch, back at the party... I thought Sirius was the dog?'

'He is. Millie was already Disillusioned; Sirius did that the first time they Disapparated. When Remus made the flash of light, he was actually taking some Polyjuice Potion.'

'Where in Merlin's name did you get that?' Lily wondered out loud.

'Slughorn's dumb enough to leave a huge vat of it lying around in his dungeon,' James said, 'He always uses it for sixth year demonstrations at the start of the year... but he never puts it away. Paddy and I altered the potion slightly so that the appearance charms would stay on the user. Moony can't be trusted with Potion alterations... too dangerous.' He grinned.

'How did you make it change? It's supposed to last for an hour.'

'Yes, and it should wear off in... about fifteen minutes,' James said. 'Remus still looks like Sirius and Sirius still looks like Remus. When McGonagall made his features back to normal, Sirius was doing a shield charm on Remus and I was re-charming the features to make it look like Sirius again. McGonagall didn't suspect a thing.'

'So... you're Sirius?' "Remus" nodded. 'My head feels funny,' Lily sighed, leaning against James. 'I have another question,' she said suddenly, 'Why are you two only in pyjama pants?'

'Two reasons. Firstly, if we'd gone back to wearing our dress-robes, she would've suspected our being Animagi. Secondly, most transfiguration hexes vanish clothes... but we couldn't have that happening, not around teachers. Although, I'm sure if it were just you and James...' Sirius winked at James who looked embarrassed.

* * *

'Cocoa,' Sirius said, grinning at Lily who wrinkled her nose; the Potion was wearing off, but he still had Remus' sandy hair.

'You're a bit late tonight, dears,' the Fat Lady said sleepily, but she swung open and admitted them anyway.

'Come to our dorm tonight,' James said, steering her toward the boy's dormitory stairs.

'I need pyjamas,' Lily said, yawning.

'Nah, you can borrow mine. We can't have you waking up your entire dorm.'

'What about Peter?'

'Pete's one person. You have three others,' James said reasonably.

'Two actually,' Lily corrected. 'Mary will be with David.'

'And we only have one. It's more economical this way.'

'What?'

'I don't know,' James said defensively, 'I'm tired.'

Lily crawled onto his bed when they entered the dormitory, and dressed herself in the pyjamas he passed her through the curtains of the bed. James stood guard on the outside of the bed and more than once she heard him threaten Sirius with death and hexes if he decided to take a peek.

'Are you done?'

'Yes,' Lily was already curled up under James' quilt. James slid into the bed next to her and cast a silencing spell on the curtains, which were almost immediately ripped open by Remus and Sirius.

'Pete's not in here,' Remus said anxiously.

'Maybe he's with a girl or something... or in the kitchens... don't worry about him. I'm sure he's fine.'

The other two left and James resealed the curtains and re-cast the charms. Lily could feel him tension coming off him in waves. 'I'm sure he's fine,' Lily said, stroking James' cheek. James nodded but didn't say anything. 'James, he's fine. He's probably getting something from the kitchens or maybe he fell asleep somewhere else... you of all people know what he's like.' James just nodded again. 'I'm going to sleep now,' she whispered. 'I love you, James.'

'Really?'

'Yes, I am going to sleep.'

'Lily,' he whined. She grinned.

'Of course I love you, silly. I like you as a stag as well. You're cute.'

'Ughh! Cute!'

Lily laughed, 'Sure. I'm sure you'd rather "cute" than "fuzzy", which is what I think of when Sirius is a dog.'

James laughed too, 'Yes, I would.' He pulled open the curtains. 'Oi! Snuffles! Lily thinks you're fuzzy!'

'What? Fuzzy?' Sirius shouted. Remus chortled at Sirius' expression

'Who's Snuffles?' Lily asked quietly.

'Snuffles is the nickname I gave Sirius when we first became Animagi... before he was Padfoot. We don't use it much,' James murmured.

'What were you, before you were Prongs?'

'I was always Prongs.'

'Fuzzy!' Sirius was still saying loudly, over Remus' howls of laughter. 'I'll show you fuzzy!' He threw a pillow over at them and then before either James or Lily could react, there was a big black dog pouncing all over their bed, barking and carrying on, slobbering all over pillows and licking Lily and James. Lily squealed as the dog's long pink tongue licked her hair.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' James yelled. Sirius was lifted from the bed and back over to his own four-poster, which James transfigured into a cage as soon as he let Sirius down. He then cast a charm to prevent Sirius from morphing back. The dog looked up at him balefully. 'Bad Snuffles,' James said, 'You know you're not allowed to jump on the furniture! Aguamenti!' A thin jet of water shot out of the end of James' wand and sprayed Sirius.

'I don't know what's been up with him lately,' Remus said dryly. 'He used to be so well behaved... perhaps we ought to have him neutered. That'll settle him down a bit.' Sirius yelped, looking quite distressed, and retreated to the back of his cage, with his tail between his legs. Lily giggled.

'If you say so, Moony' James said, yawning. 'We'll talk about in the morning, see if he doesn't settle down between now and then.'

James closed the curtains around the bed again and siphoned dog saliva off of the bed clothes. 'Night, Lils,' James whispered. 'I love you.'


	39. Chapter 39

Sirius howled helplessly in his cage as he watched Remus thrash around on the bed. Even as a dog he could see the sweat on the sandy haired boys face and see how pale he had turned. He howled again. He was going to kill James for putting him in the stupid cage.

Eventually, Sirius realised that James would have done a two-way silencing charm and that James would not be able to hear him. Sirius employed his choicest swear words and then managed to roll his cage over to James' bed.

Sirius took the curtains between his teeth and pulled, until the whole thing came crashing down. James jerked awake. Sirius howled again. James laughed. 'Sorry, Pads,' and let him out of the cage.

'Help Moony,' Sirius gasped, as soon as he was human again. He always had trouble on two legs after spending time on four, so he stayed on the ground.

James leaped over to Remus' bed and swore loudly. 'James?' Lily asked, looking up blearily. Sirius grinned at her in a teasingly disapproving kind of way.

'Yes, love?' James asked in a pretend calm voice as he checked Remus' pulse. He swore again.

'Oh, do you have romantic names for each other?' Sirius asked innocently. '"Love", how original... now who's fuzzy?'

'Pads, shut up or help, or shut up and help,' James snapped.

'Wow, Jamsie. Not in a good mood are you? You'd have thought after a night with your...er... what was it... oh yes, your "love" that you might be a bit more cheerful.'

'Sirius, he's already started biting himself. I've never known the symptoms to come on this quickly. We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey now!' Sirius' eyes widened and he stood, only to fall over again. 'Aghh!' James pulled his hand out the way as Remus snapped, still asleep.

'Should we wake him up?' Sirius asked, joining James at the bed.

'I don't know. Usually he's not like this until a few hours before the transformation... You don't think-?'

'I don't know. Where's Peter? Forget Pomfrey. We need to get him the Shack.'

'James, is everything all right?' Lily wrapped her arm around him and peered up at his face. James pulled her away from Remus.

'Fine,' he kissed her. 'Go down to breakfast, get some photos of the teachers' detentions and tell them that Paddy and I are with Remus, they'll understand.'

'Will you be all right?'

'Of course,' he said grinning. 'I'll see you later.' Lily kissed him and left the dormitory. 'I say we leave him asleep. He's less dangerous this way, and easier to carry.' Sirius nodded.

* * *

They made it into the grounds before Remus woke up. He was shaking quite violently, and had no idea where he was. He seemed to already be in the wolf mind-frame and was growling and snapping at them. They were about twenty metres from the Whomping Willow when Remus thrashed around so much that they dropped him. Amazingly, despite it being eight o'clock in the morning, Remus began to transform. The reason for that became apparent when the seventh years noticed the solar eclipse. The moon was already full, and despite it being day, it was rising.

Sirius looked at James. 'We need to get him in!' he shouted.

Neither of them had their wands, because they were likely to be damaged during the morphing process. James scanned the ground and found there were no sticks in the area. He grimaced. 'I'll get the knot,' James said, sprinting toward the tree.

'Moony!' Sirius yelled, trying to distract the werewolf. 'Moony, we need you to get into the tree as soon as possible. You're transforming differently today and it's dangerous! We don't want you to hurt anyone so get inside!'

Remus looked at him, and for a moment, there was no sign of the werewolf in his eyes. He nodded once and bolted toward the hole at the base of the tree, dodging the branches. He dove inside and moments later, a ghastly howl could be heard, echoing through the tunnels.

'James, he's in!' Sirius yelled. 'Hurry up so we can get in there too!'

James nodded and ducked a blow that would have hit his head. 'Almost,' he muttered, reaching for the knot. Suddenly, he felt pain and everything went black.

* * *

'Prongs?' Sirius yelled, watching James collapse as one of the tree's vicious branches smashed into him. 'Merlin!' Sirius also used some other, more vulgar swear words as he pelted toward the tree. He morphed into the dog mid-stride, and landed right beside James, who was still being mercilessly beaten by the tree.

Sirius bit at some of James' pyjama pants, but they tore. _Sorry mate,_ he thought. Wincing slightly, Sirius bit down onto James' leg, hoping the pants would at least protect him a little. Sirius could taste James' warm blood in his mouth as he tried to drag him away from the tree. Sirius was now being hit by the braches as well, and each time, he involuntarily clamped tighter onto James leg.

Eventually, James stirred. He attempted to fend off blows with his arms, until his right one made a horrible crunching noise and he screamed and passed out again. Sirius was sure he had some broken ribs and was positive his front paw was broken too.

Dully, he felt a branch smash hard against his skull, and then there was a flash of brown and the tree stilled. Knowing he was safe, Sirius morphed back, and screamed in pain when he felt the full extent of his injuries. There was a voice, talking very loudly and very quickly next to him, but Sirius couldn't understand it. It was like everything was fuzzy. Sirius scowled at the thought. Fuzzy.


	40. Chapter 40

The boy looked down at the two marauders, more battered and beaten than he had ever seen them. Now more than ever, he could see that they were human, and that, right now, they needed help from him, instead of the other way around. If only he knew what to do...

Tears of shame and guilt built in his eyes, and he drew his wand.

* * *

Lily nibbled on a piece of buttered toast at the Gryffindor table. Moods were high after having watched the teachers write lines as punishment. Lily smiled a little to herself; lessons had been postponed so the teachers could eat something, and as a result, her first lesson -History of Magic- was going to be considerably shortened.

She scanned the table curiously, trying to see where her boyfriend and his friends were. A gap, large enough for four across or two on each side was only a few people away; a blatant sign that the marauders were absent from breakfast. Knowing Sirius, something urgent had to be up, for him to miss a meal... She hoped Remus was all right.

A Hufflepuff second year girl screamed. A Gryffindor fainted. Running down the aisles, so that it was only a blur, was a Patronus. It was a rat and it headed straight for the teachers' table. Whatever it said was not audible over the confused chatter that had broken out, but obviously the teachers could hear it, because the entire staff table (Hagrid included) stood, and hurried out. Slughorn stayed long enough to shout, 'All students will return to their common rooms immediately, and will not leave them until the Head of house comes and tell them it is safe again! Follow your Prefects, and do not use magic unless your life is threatened!' He then ran, puffing, after the others.

Several students screamed. One boy shrieked, 'We're going to die!' and dived under the table. Lily hurried up to the teachers table. 'Everyone listen up!' she bellowed. Silence ensued. 'We will do this in an orderly fashion!'

'Lucius and Narcissa will lead the Slytherins to their common rooms. Go now! Hufflepuffs next. Good, now the Ravenclaws.' She ran toward Frank and Marlene, who were trying to get the Gryffindors out of the hall, and added her efforts to their struggle. 'Gryffindors, follow us!'

In the Entrance Hall, it was pandemonium. Students were shoving and jinxing each other as they thried to fight through to their common rooms. 'Miss Evans! Miss Evans! You are Miss Evans?' Professor Binns was running toward Lily, his face pale, his white wisps of hair streaming out behind him.

'Yes, I am,' Lily said, gesturing for Marlene and Frank to keep going to the common room. 'Why?'

'You are needed. Professor McGonagall is asking for you, she's in the grounds with the other teachers!' Lily's face was bone white, and without another word, she sped toward the front doors.

'No! Oh, Merlin, no!' Lily screamed. James and Sirius were lying a foot from each other, bloodied, bruised, probably broken and hardly breathing.

'Miss Evans, control yourself,' McGonagall snapped, but tears were running down her withered face, and her mouth was white. She seemed unable to tear her eyes from James' leg, which had been mauled. Lily closed her eyes; James was going to be a werewolf too. Part of her realised he would find this highly amusing.

A whimper next to her made Lily look at Peter, whose tear streaked face looked down at the ground. McGonagall patted his back awkwardly. 'He found them,' she whispered.

'Merlin,' Lily whispered again, 'what happened?' As if on cue a howl echoed through the grounds.

Professor Hields emerged from the base of the willow, 'It's definitely him, Professor.'

Albus Dumbledore scanned the scene with his glittering blue eyes and nodded once. Several teachers moved forward and conjured the dark haired marauders onto stretchers.

'Miss Evans,' Dumbledore said gravely, 'You were with these two this morning, were you not?' Lily nodded, tears starting to fall. 'What was happening?'

'When James and Sirius woke up, they noticed R-Remus wasn't acting normally. They said something about him changing earlier than usual. They told me everything was fine and James t-told me to go down to breakfast. He said he'd see me l-later. They were going on about taking R-Remus to the S-shrieking S-shack. T-that's all I kn-know,' she sobbed, pulling at her hair.

'They should have taken him straight to Pomona,' Professor Kettleburn said angrily. 'Stupid boys, thinking they can deal with a werewolf.'

'Trish, you have never had the pleasure of teaching Messrs Potter and Black. They are anything but unintelligent... and they have been helping Mr Lupin with his condition since second, or perhaps first year. They know better than anybody what they were dealing with. There was solar eclipse this morning,' Dumbledore said, almost thoughtfully. 'That is likely what triggered it. I think it is fortunate that Messrs Black and Potter woke before Lupin, else we may have had a Lycan loose in Gryffindor tower... that would have been most eventful,' his eyes twinkled, but his expression remained sombre.

'In the circumstances, I think their actions were nothing less of heroic, albeit the disregard for their own safety... yet imagine, if had they not acted as quickly as they did or if they had decided to bring him to Pomona what the consequences could have been. As callous as it sounds, these two are far better suited to dealing with Mr Lupin than any of the other student and even most of the teachers...' Dumbledore looked sadly at James' leg. 'Mr Pettigrew,' Dumbledore said gently, 'will you tell me what happened?'

'I wasn't there,' Peter sniffed, his eyes waterier than ever. 'I should have been there. I had a headache last night, so I was in the hospital wing. I fell asleep there, and when I woke up, it was morning. I was heading to the common room when I heard howling and yelling and I saw what was happening out in the grounds. I ran down and checked that Remus was inside and then sent the Patronus so Sirius and James could get help. I should've done more I shouldn't have gone to the Hospital Wing!'

Lily went over to hug him, 'You did well. Without you, they'd probably be dead.' Peter started to sob shrilly and then fainted. McGonagall conjured him a stretcher as well and sent him floating up toward the castle behind the other two.


	41. Chapter 41

When James and Sirius woke, they were in a lot of pain. Lily hadn't realised until then, that they both had somewhat more extensive vocabularies than she would have liked. She expected one of the teachers to tell them off for swearing, but they all looked so relieved to have them awake that they said nothing.

Lily had James hand in one of hers and Sirius' in the other, because she thought he looked lonely. Madam Pomfrey gave them both a pain-killing potion that enabled them to stay awake and answer questions.

'What happened when you got into the grounds?'

The two marauders looked at each other. 'I don't remember,' they both said.

'Surely you remember something?' Dumbledore asked, his eyes like x-rays.

James frowned. 'I know Peter wasn't there, and neither Sirius or I had our wands. Sirius tried to get the knot open,' the two shared a look, 'and I got Moony through the base. Sirius got knocked out and I dragged him away from the tree. Huh. Maybe I do remember something.' He grinned at Lily.

'And your leg?' Madam Pomfrey asked shakily.

James grimaced. 'It hurts.'

'I'm sure, but do you realise what it means?'

'That dogs have sharp teeth,' he said, looking at Sirius.

'Wolves,' Sirius muttered, shaking his head. '_Wolves_ have sharp teeth.'

'Oh, yeah. Oops, I meant wolves.' Lily sighed with relief and hugged them both; James hadn't been bitten by Remus, he'd been bitten by Sirius. 'Ouch, Lils.'

'Sorry,' she mumbled. James grinned.

'Mr Potter, you will be a werewolf!' Madam Pomfrey burst. She began to cry.

'Oh,' James said. He shrugged, 'I can live with that. At the moment I feel fine... Don't know what Moony's always complaining about,' James said cheerfully.

McGonagall started to cry too, 'We took protective measures so that this wouldn't happen!' she bawled.

'Really, Professors, I feel fine,' James said, looking worried now. 'Is it possible I wasn't infected?'

'Anything is possible,' Dumbledore said thoughtfully, 'but with such a deep bite... perhaps... here,' he passed James his wand. 'I believe your Patronus was a stag... If you have been infected, it will have changed.'

'Expecto Patronum,' James whispered. His eyes never left Lily's face as he cast the spell. A large silvery stag erupted from the tip of the wand and cantered around the room.

'Well, I think that settles it,' Sirius said cheerfully. A single tear ran down Dumbledore's cheek as James passed the wand back. 'Jamie's not a wolf... where's Pete, I thought I remembered him coming to help us.'

'On the bed over there,' Lily said, smiling over at where Peter still lay unconscious. James and Sirius laughed.


	42. Chapter 42

Lily visited the marauders the next day; Remus was recovering from the full moon and James and Sirius were under supervision to make sure there was no internal damage. Peter was about living in the Hospital Wings; having almost lost his friends seemed to have cured him of being distant.

'Hi, Sirius, Remus, Peter,' she said, sitting down on the end of James' bed.

'Hey! What about me?' her boyfriend asked indignantly.

'Hi, James,' Lily said playfully. She crawled over to kiss him.

'That's better,' he said, smiling against her lips.

Sirius made a gagging noise, 'Get a room, you two! Merlin, you'd think the Heads would be a little bit more discreet!' Peter snickered, but stopped when James frowned at him.

'Sorry,' the rat-Animagus said reverently.

'All is forgiven, Wormy,' James said happily. 'You didn't try to bite my leg off...'

'I was saving you!' Sirius protested.

'Who says I was talking about you?' James asked, a look of utter confusion on his face.

'I thoug-'

'Ha!' James said triumphantly. 'The fact that you thought I was talking about you when I might not have been means you're feeling guilty!'

'Of course I feel guilty, you prat! I had to bite you!' Sirius grumbled.

James' expression changed immediately. 'I know. Thanks, Paddy.'

'Git,' Sirius muttered. James tossed a pillow at him. 'That was uncalled for Jamesie!'

'Was not. It was apt!'

Madam Pomfrey's office door creaked. Lily threw herself off of James' bed, doubting the matron would take kindly to finding the two of them in such an uncompromising position. She straightened, brushing herself off as the nurse bustled over.

'Is Remus still asleep?' Pomfrey muttered.

'Yes,' Peter said, sending the dozing werewolf an anxious look. 'Is he all right?'

'He's fine, Pete,' Sirius said, exasperated. Lily guessed this was a conversation they had had many times.

'And Potter's asleep too?' Madam Pomfrey asked.

'No,' Lily said, but then she looked down and noticed James was in fact snoring. 'Oh. Um... yes.'

Madam Pomfrey nodded and returned to her office. Sirius was whispering something to Peter, who laughed.

'No! No, I haven't yet,' James murmured, 'I've been meaning to, honestly, sir, I have!' There was silence for a moment and then James yelled, 'NO! No, I would never. No! I love her!'

'I think he's talking about his broom...' Sirius said. Peter laughed.

'Is he asleep?' Lily asked, waving her hand over his face.

'Yes. Have you never heard him talk in his sleep?' Peter asked. Lily shook her head. 'Oh, Prongs loves a late night chat!'

'No I haven't asked yet, Moony. Shut up, Pads, you know I promised you could be there... I know how you like these things. Oh, Peter, you haven't seen it yet cause you were being aloof! Haha, aloof. I know, Paddy, it is a funny word. Yes, Remus, I know what it means... It means he likes cheese. But yes, Wormy, I keep it with me everywhere! It's in the bedside table... that way the Giant Squid can't get it!'

Sirius laughed, 'He's actually making sense... Usually it's just gibberish!'

To Lily, it was gibberish. 'What does he mean "it's in the bedside table"?' Sirius looked worried. Lily reached for the bedside table, but Sirius waved his wand. When Lily tried to open it, she found the drawer had been sealed shut. 'Sirius!' she whined.

'Not for your eyes, Lillian,' he said smugly. Lily pouted, but then looked at James.

'James,' she said softly. 'What's in the bedside table?'

James smiled. 'It a secret, but I like you, so I guess you can know. It's-'

'NO!' Sirius shouted shooting a jet of water out of his wand. It hit James in the face and he woke up, spluttering.

'Padfoot! What in Merlin's name did you do that for?'

'You were about to tell your "love" about the contents of the drawer...'

James' face whitened and he looked sheepishly up at Lily. 'I didn't, did I?'

'No, Padfoot stopped you in time,' Peter said. Lily frowned.

'Oh, good!'

'You're most welcome,' Sirius said pompously, 'Just remember I have to be there.' James beamed, nodding.

'Are you three keeping secrets?' Lily demanded.

'Yes,' James said, grinning.


	43. Chapter 43

'How long do you reckon it'll take her to notice?' James said idly.

Sirius and Peter laughed and looked at each other because she already knew and just hadn't managed to reverse the spell

'No idea,' Sirius said. 'When she does find out though; I had no part in it.'

'It was your idea!' Peter said shrilly.

'Yes, and so was swapping her shampoo for honey in third year, an event which I still have the scars from! Nope, this is all James' idea, especially because she's still mad about the bedside table thing.'

'Thanks again, Pads,' James said fervently.

'No problem. When are you going to do it?'

James grinned. 'Soon. I think it'll be nice to have Moony around for it too.'

'Aww, how sweet,' Sirius said mockingly. James elbowed him in the ribs. Once Sirius could breather again he said, 'I must say, I admire your wand-work, Prongsie.'

James grinned again, 'Thanks.' His hazel eyes focused on the flashing letters that were spread across the back of Lily Evans' school robes. They read "_Property of James Potter. If found, please return."_

'Won't she be angry? You did this in fifth year, remember?' Peter said anxiously.

'Maybe, but she knows she likes me now, and we are going out... I should be able to claim what's mine.' With that, he sauntered after his girlfriend.

'How long do you think it'll take him to notice?' Peter asked Sirius, who shrugged; spelled across James' backside was "_Property of Lily Evans."_

'I think he might know already,' Sirius said shrugging again, 'This is Prongs we're talking about; if Lily's "claiming" him, he'll be thrilled.'

* * *

'I love you.'

'I love you too,' Lily said.

'I love you more,' James said, lowering her onto his four poster bed.

He kissed her, wrapping one hand in her long, red hair and sliding the other further and further down her back, until he was cradling her hip. Lily shivered as James' tongue traced her lips and then moved into her mouth, exploring. James groaned as Lily's hands clenched in his messy hair. Lily had always liked his hair.

She then traced the contours of his chest through his shirt. 'Your pants need to stay on, but I think we can do without the shirt...'

'Yes ma'am,' James murmured, unbuttoning it and tossing it on the floor. 'Your shirt next?'

Lily frowned, thinking, 'I suppose so, but my bra is staying on.' James nodded, laughed and kissed her again, his hands fumbling at her shirt buttons.

'Well, well, well... What do we have here?'

'Shut it, Padfoot,' James muttered, not even looking at his friends, who had just walked in. He was still focusing on kissing Lily, who didn't seem to mind either.

'Honestly, you two, can't keep your hands off each other for ten minutes,' Remus scolded playfully.

'Nope,' James murmured and then went back to snogging his girlfriend.

'Can't you go somewhere private?' Peter asked anxiously. He was clearly uncomfortable.

Lily pushed James off of her, but snatched one of the pillows to her half bare chest before addressing the other three, 'Until you three came barging in here, this was a private room. If you don't like it, leave.'

'Why don't you leave?' Sirius asked, childishly.

James rolled his eyes. 'Because we were here first!'

'So?'

'So it means we were here first, and you have to go!'

Sirius was lost for words and stuck his tongue out at them instead. James started to argue back, and soon the pair of them were bickering again. Remus and Peter grinned apologetically at Lily.

They lost track of the argument for a moment and then:

'Oh yeah? Well you smell funny!' was Sirius' witty comeback.

'Paddy, that was awful,' James said. 'If you're going to insult me at least do it properly.'

Sirius laughed. 'Sorry, Jamesie... How about... You smell worse than a troll.'

'Not very original, but better at least. Please go away now.'

'Nope. This is my room too! You can't make me go!'

'Moony,' James whined. 'Marauders Code, rule number 4. Please?'

Remus raised an eyebrow. 'You'll only have two left...'

'It's worth it,' James said with certainty. 'Give me an hour.'

Remus nodded, looked at Peter, and the two of them dragged a disgruntled Sirius out of the room. 'Marauders Code?' Lily asked curiously.

James nodded. 'I'll tell you all about it... Later.' He pulled her onto his chest, and Lily eagerly met his lips.


	44. Chapter 44

James pulled a scroll of parchment from behind a loose brick in the wall. 'This is the Marauder's Code,' he said proudly. 'There are twelve rules, and all must be obeyed.'

'Or what?' Lily laughed.

James shrugged, 'Or the betrayer has to find a new place to sleep until they redeem themselves, or we graduate. We've all broken them at some point, but no-one has ever been renounced. Right.' He stretched the scroll out onto the bedspread. Lily curiously read it:

_The Marauder's Code, Written, and Upheld by Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs._

_Should the rules be breached, the offender must redeem themselves by an act of bravery, loyalty or hilarity. This act is to be judged and passed by the remaining marauders. Should the offender refuse to remedy their actions, they are banned from the dormitory, and stripped of their nickname, and the title of marauder. These rules are to be taken Siriusly._

_Rule #1 – Your fellow marauders are as family. What is yours is theirs. Exceptions are girls and broomsticks._

_Rule #2 – Marauders are not to be judged for things outside of their control. Teasing is permitted, as long as it is not interpreted as offensive. (Moony's furry little problem, Padfoot's awful family, Prongs loving Evans, Wormtail wetting the bed, Animagi forms). _

_Rule #3 - A marauder shall not lie, nor conceal truths from his fellow marauders if possible. Each has three chances to conceal things, no questions asked. If a marauder has not sought verbal sanctuary and are discovered to have lied, they will be punished. _

_Rule #4 – A marauder is entitled to time alone. Four times may he request privacy and should this happen, his plea must be heard and obeyed._

_Rule #5 – A marauder will not allow a girl to come between himself and his friends, no matter how beautiful, quirky, special, Quidditch-loving or intelligent she may be. No exceptions are to be made to this rule, no matter how much you (Prongs) love her. (Yes, Prongs, we mean Evans)._

_Rule #6 – So long as Rule #5 is not breached, the marauders must be supporting of their brothers' girlfriends unless they deem something to be very, very wrong. _

_Rule #7 – A marauder will seize every moment possible to cause mayhem and mischief, but they will never cause harm or permanent damage to any living creature. Nor are they to put a life in danger. Killing is unforgivable. (Moony is the exception)._

_Rule #8 – A marauder must be untouchable. No marauder may do anything to sabotage or otherwise diminish the marauders image and reputation. _

_Rule #9 – A marauder does not care about blood-status, and will never, ever call a person "Mudblood"._

_Rule #10 – No marauder is to miss a full moon, under any circumstances._

_Rule #11 – Unless they choose to, no marauder is ever to face a detention alone._

_Rule # 12 – If necessary, a marauder will die for his brothers._

'Wow,' Lily said. 'You take this whole thing "Siriusly".'

James laughed, 'Of course. Would you expect anything less?'

'I suppose not. I have a few questions though...' James cocked an eyebrow. 'Is Remus' furry little problem his Lycanthropy?'

'It is. Why?' Lily mumbled something about having thought he owned a badly behaved rabbit, to which James replied, 'That's what we like people to think.'

'When was this written then?'

'First year,' James said proudly.

'But, you told me Remus didn't tell you he was a Werewolf until second year,' Lily said, thinking back to the day James had cornered her to explain everything.

James beamed. 'You listened! But yes, he didn't tell us until then, but we did know... so, we wrote it on anyway. And we wrote the no missing a full moon rule. Then we added the no keeping secrets rules to make him feel guilty. It worked eventually.'

Lily laughed, but managed to pull herself together and ask, 'You weren't even Animagi then, so that part in Rule two is a bit silly... especially if you weren't even sure if Remus was a wolf.'

'We were planning ahead,' James said defensively, 'We were certain he was a werewolf anyway and this was one thing we had to write down; What is Sirius had ended up changing into a Unicorn? Can you image the teasing? Or what if Pete became a lizard, or something useless, like a fish?'

'What if you'd been wrong?'

'Then Paddy and I would have bought Moony a rabbit, and trained it to be badly behaved. We were never going to be proven wrong. And we would have made a special tradition for full moons, and we would have had to become Animagi so the Code was correct.'

Lily giggled and then looked up at James. 'Why not write a new Code, wouldn-' he silenced her with one look. 'All right... You loved me in first year?'

'Yes,' James said reddening. 'Although, I think it was more of a crush back then... I felt nowhere near as strongly about you as I do now.' Lily's eyes filled with tears. She threw her arms around him.

'I'm sorry! It must have been awful for you! All this time, and I used to h-hate you!'

James shrugged. 'I knew I'd win you over eventually; you did love me back then, you just didn't know it.'

Lily laughed and hugged him again. 'Isn't Rule twelve a bit extreme?'

'Lils, we're living in the middle of a war with Voldemort. I think it's perfectly relevant.'

Lily was visibly upset but cheered when she thought of another question. 'What were you saying before, about having broken the code?'

James looked thoughtful. 'We'll start with me. I have broken the Code three times. First, I broke Rule Number five: let a girl come between us; you, back in fifth year, when it was more of an obsession than a crush, I stopped pranking for a while because I thought it might make you like me more... which means I broke Rule seven... or the first part of it anyway. I also changed the image of the marauders, breaking Rule eight.

'The first time was when I decided I wasn't going to mess around with girls. This was in third year when Moony and Pads were having a bit of fun and I got annoyed at them and decided my first kiss was going to be with you, and that it would mean something. Because people didn't know the reason, I think people thought I might have been gay. It really ruined the "player" image,' James laughed. 'We had to start the rumour about me and Marlene McKinnon when that happened.'

'That wasn't true?'

'It was sort of,' James amended.

Lily's eyes were slits. 'How true?'

'I walked in on her and Diggory in a broom closet. I was laden with dungbombs for a reason I can't quite remember anymore...' he grinned, 'I dropped them, Diggory was sent to the Hospital Wing for lung poisoning and Marlene hexed me. We both got detention for that, _not_ for fooling around with each other. Turns out a story with Marlene, me and a broom-closet won me deity status for a while,' he made a face.

'How did you make up for breaking the Rules?'

'Remus made me dye Dumbledore's beard pink. Dumbledore loved it, but McGonagall wasn't that thrilled. I also had to go without talking to you for a week, I had to date three girls and I had to get you to kiss me. Willingly, with no love potions or magic involved. Oh, and before you ask; my Rule four allowances, one was used after my parents died and one was an hour ago, when I sent the others away.'

'And Sirius? What Rules did he break?'

'Pads has broken Rules one, two, seven and eight; he borrowed my broom without asking, he used to tease me mercilessly about liking you, he nearly got Sni- Snape killed in fifth year and he cried after getting a howler from his parents in fourth year. His acts of redemption include telling me what he had done to Snape which allowed me to save him, writing a Howler to his parents, hitting a bludger at Slughorn and swapping your shampoo with honey in third year.'

'I thought that was you!'

'Nope. Moony has broken Rules two, three, six and seven; he was angry about Sirius nearly killing Snape, so he went on a rant how Sirius was just like the rest of the Blacks, he tried to hide being a werewolf, he doesn't ever try to like our girlfriends because he's scared of them figuring out his furry little problem secret and he doesn't go out of his way to pull pranks. His redemption acts were go a week without saying anything self-pitying, help us become Animagi, pull three pranks a day for a week and not study for one whole day in the week leading up to O.W.L.S.

'Peter has broken Rules eight and ten and I don't think he'd hold up well if we tested Rule twelve; he really doesn't come across as untouchable, high voice, always fainting... not quite the stereotypical marauder... and he missed the full moon last Sunday morni-'

'James, he wasn't there and the moon came early.'

'Yes, but he should've been there. His redeeming acts have been saving our lives last week, starting a duel with a Slytherin, trying out for the Quidditch team and breaking up with Sirius' girlfriend for him.'

'You choose weird punishments.'

'We prefer "Acts of repemption", but yes. Notice how they always deal with the law being breached though, they are entirely relevant, or most of them. Your shampoo and Dumbledore's beard I'm not so sure about...'


	45. Chapter 45

'You showed her the Code?' Sirius yelled when James and Lily returned to the common room.

'Yes,' James said. Lily had the grace to look a little embarrassed.

'But you can't!' Sirius howled. 'It's the Marauders Code! Not the anyone who wants to read it can read it Code!'

'Nowhere in the Code does it say that Lily is not allowed to read it,' James said calmly.

Sirius swore loudly. Remus looked thoughtful, 'You're right.'

'Remus?'

'Yes, Lils?'

'James was telling me about the breaches and things... why do you seem to like me, when you apparently haven't liked the other girlfriends?'

'You're not like the others,' he said simply. 'You seem to care for Prongs, you make him happy. You get along with all of us and we were friends anyway... If you'd guessed, I would have told you about my "furry little problem", but you didn't. When the time came, it didn't matter much that you knew, because I'd had years to reconcile myself with the idea.'

'Years?'

'You and James getting together was inevitable. Prongs is a real pain when he wants something. _No-one _can hold off giving in for long because he's so bloody annoying when he wants to be.' James grinned. 'I was actually quite proud of how well you were doing. Six years has to be a record.' Lily laughed.

'What about you two?' she asked Sirius and Peter. 'Do you just like me because your Code says you have to?'

'Yep!' Sirius said brightly, grinning at James. Lily couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She hoped he was.

'No,' Peter said quietly. 'You're nice. It's like what Remus said.'

'Group hug!' Sirius shouted.

* * *

'You what?'

'I mentioned to Pomfrey that you have suspicious looking marks on your neck,' Sirius said brightly.

'Why!' James said, trying to adjust his collar to hide his hickeys.

'I was there this morning because I had a headache.'

'You mean a hangover.'

Sirius shrugged. 'I wondered aloud if I might be getting what you have... and she freaked.'

'What do I have, other than a vengeful, immature best friend?'

'Red marks on your neck, that I fear may be contagious,' said Sirius in a pretend worried voice.

'But you know they're not!'

'But you broke Rule eight. Being a marauder needs to seem effortless. Showing her the Code shows there is planning involved. That ruins the image... so this is your punishment; Pomfrey said to tell you to come to her office as soon as you can so she can inspect these mysterious marks before you infect the entire school. I think she thinks you have Spattergroit or Dragon-Pox. Embarrassing for you when she figures out they're from Lily.'

James groaned, and slammed his head against his desk. 'I hate you sometimes.'

* * *

'Why weren't you in Defence?' Lily asked when James sat down next to her at lunch.

He sighed, 'Because Sirius is a prat.'

'Fair enough,' Remus said sitting down. 'What did he do this time?'

'Got me sent to the Hospital Wing so Pomfrey could check the "possibly contagious marks on my neck".'

Lily blushed, partially out of embarrassment, partially out of anger. 'Oh, I am going to kill him!'

'Kill who?' Alice asked in a bored voice. She was too used to Lily's death threats to care much about them anymore.

'Black,' Lily growled. Alice sighed and walked away again, thinking Frank might be better company at the moment.

'Me?' Sirius said, arriving with Peter.

'Yes, you!' she yelled, drawing her wand. Several students looked at her nervously.

'Lils, sit down,' James said. 'I couldn't vanish them myself so I poked them all with my wand before I went. They turned kind of gross, so I told her I got splashed in Potions. She did the usual healing, muttered to herself about unsafe school lessons and sent me on my way.' Lily sat down reluctantly, but smiled at Sirius' disappointed face. 'Oh, Pads,' James said casually. 'For breaking several Rules with that little stun-'

'What Rules?' Sirius asked, sounding doubtful.

'Well, Rule two, because I can't help loving Lily and my hickey's were a product of that, Rule six, because you were not accepting of Lily and her behaviour, Rule seven because if I hadn't altered my neck, McGonagall would have killed me and Rule eight because having me diagnosed with either the truth or with a false infectious disease would have damaged our reputation, especially if people found out you had ratted –Sorry Pete– me out.'

'Fine, what's the punishment?' Sirius said in a resigned voice.

James grinned quite evilly, 'You don't get to be there.'

'WHAT! NO! You promised!' Sirius screamed. He looked quite distressed until he said, 'You can't do that!' He seemed quite cheerful now. 'You can't break your promise because that means you lied to me which means you're breaking the Code and my punishment for you will be that you can't do it, which means I don't have to be there.' James paled.

Remus had put down his book and was following the conversation with an amused look on his face. Peter was thinking very hard about something, and Lily was frowning, having not understood one word of their exchange.

'Not if I use one of my three chances to lie to you, no questions asked,' James retorted, with some colour back in his cheeks now.

'If I can't be there, I'll tell her,' Sirius said defiantly.

'You wouldn't.'

'I would.'

James pouted. 'Yes, you probably would... unless I told you to go away, using my penultimate Rule four chance, which would mean that you would have to leave and then, I could do it, without you being there and without you having the chance to tell her.'

'No, because I'll tell her now.'

James raised an eyebrow, 'Padfoot, I invoke my Rule four-'

'Now, Prongs, don't do anything hasty. We're both mature-' Remus, Lily and Peter laughed. '- adults. We can figure this out.' His face suddenly lit up, 'If I tell you to go away using my one of my Rule four rights, then I can tell her.'

'No, because she would come with me, in which case you would miss out again, because you would have told me to go away, which means I can't be near you, and you can't be near me, which still meas you can't be around!'

'Merlin, of all the people I could have argued with, it would be you, Prongs. Moony I can give chocolate and he'll forget what he was saying, Wormtail will trip on his own tongue, but you...!'

'Are you saying you'll take the punishment?' James asked.

'No! I refuse!'

'Then you're out of the dorm, sorry, _Sirius._'

'No! There has to be something else, anythi-'

'In the name of Merlin, will you two shut up!' It took everyone a moment to realise the yell had come from Peter. James and Sirius were blinking uncontrollably. 'I am going to use my first ever Rule four allowance to tell the two of you to GO AWAY! And you have to stay away from each other too.'

James and Sirius looked at each other and then burst out laughing. 'Y-you can't be serious!' James laughed.

'I'm Sirius, you prat!' Sirius said whacking the back of James' head.

'I am not joking!' Peter said shrilly. 'Go away!'

'You two have to listen,' Remus said in a grave voice, 'he has invoked the Code.' James' hazel eyes and Sirius' grey ones glared at the two sandy haired boys.

'Mirrors?' James asked darkly. Sirius nodded. Remus rolled his eyes.

'Accio!' both dark-haired seventh years yelled.

A minute later, they were walking in separate directions, each talking into a small rectangular mirror, plotting how to extract revenge on Peter and Remus.

'What was all that about?' Lily asked in amazement. Remus suddenly became very interested in his book, and Peter struck up a conversation with the salt and pepper shakers. Lily sighed, her eyes on her boyfriend's back.


	46. Chapter 46

With the beginning of May, came N.E.W.T.S. The seventh years were in a state of panic, having lost track of time. Every day a new story would spread about another student that had buckled under the pressure and been escorted to the Hospital Wing. The only two students who did not seem at all worried about the upcoming exams were James Potter and Sirius Black, who walked around, pulling pranks and appearing not to study.

Lessons were over for the seventh years, and with a week to go until their first N.E.W.T., most were buried under piles of book in their common rooms and also in the school library.

'Remus!' Lily said, agitated, 'I've been looking for it everywhere and I can't find it; What is the incantation for Mind-Switching?'

'It is "Resmentis Spatium"... Do you think we'll need to know it?'

'Know what?' James and Sirius said cheerfully coming over.

'The Mind-Swap spell.'

James frowned, 'I think so. That's the one most people had trouble with so they'll want to examine that...'

* * *

Pettigrew, Peter, you'll be over there with Madam Roland. Potter, James, you have Professor Dispecio. Both marauders nodded and filed into the hall. Peter was wringing his hands.

James found the examination easy, Transfiguration was his best subject after-all. Peter seemed to be doing better than expected. True, his teapot did still have an elephant trunk, but as James pointed out, "that doesn't mean you can't use it, it just means the tea might taste a bit funny". He and Peter amused the examiners by sitting down and having a cup of tea before continuing.

'Messrs Potter and Pettigrew you will demonstrate your use of the Mind-Swap spell on each other, by swapping personalities. Please tell me your question and answer privately, so that I can see if it is truly you.' Both boys nodded and told Madam Roland their "secret question". 'Mr Pettigrew, you will switch the minds, and Mr Potter will put them back.'

'Yes, ma'am,' Peter squeaked. He cleared his throat, 'Resmentis Spatium!' His wand gave a funny little jerk, but James could feel that nothing had happened. An idea came to him. He looked down at his body, at his hands, touched his hair and his glasses and then said, 'Did it work?' in the squeakiest voice he could manage.

'Mr Pettigrew?'

'Yes?' James said in a shrill voice, very much unlike his own. He hoped never to have to use it again. He glanced at Peter, upon whose face comprehension began to dawn.

Professor Dispecio scrutinised Peter. 'Mr Potter?'

'This is weird,' Peter said. He looked up at James. 'Well done, mate! It worked.'

James smiled shyly, 'Thanks, Prongs.'

'We must ask you your questions, procedural, just to make sure.'

James hoped Peter had chosen something he could guess, or even knew. 'What is your favourite food?'

James grinned, 'Cheese!'

'And, Mr Potter, the form of your patronus?'

'A stag,' Peter said in a voice that he hoped sounded like James'.

'Very good!' Both examiners looked at Peter, 'Mr Potter, if you will...'

'Resmentis Spatium,' Peter thundered, waving his wand.

James pretended to sway on his feet, before announcing, 'I'm me again!'

'Me, too!' Peter cried, excitedly. He was more grateful to James than he could ever say, but he tried to as soon as they left the Hall. 'Thank you! Oh, Prongs! Thank you so much! When it didn't work, I thought I was going to fa-'

'Wormy, shut up,' James advised him. 'I was glad to help... just don't tell Lily.'

The theory part of the Transfiguration exam was just as easy; most of the questions were on Animagi and the alteration of human appearances. James smiled, thinking back to "Ebony Graves" and began to scribble down answers.

'Did you get most of the Animagi questions, Wormy?'

'I don't know!' Peter wailed, 'all the ones about registration and how you know what your form is going to be confused me.'

Sirius shrugged. 'I thought it was easy. Moony?'

'I struggled a little with the questions. I'm never myself when you morph... and since I am not an Animagus I couldn't rely on personal experience, but I know the theory... I think I did well.'

The rest of the week was quite eventful. Sirius and James took harps into the Potions exam, saying that music helps them think and pass time while their Potions were simmering. They also adamantly told the examiners that instruments in an exam were not against the rules, and even produced a copy of the rule book to prove the point.

Lily passed her Potions practical with flying colours, having brewed Amortentia, a powerful love potion. Her success was in part owed to James who got up to kiss her halfway through the exam. Madam Roland, who did not know about their relationship, proclaimed that James was intoxicated by the mere fumes of Lily's Potion. Neither of them wanted to tell her otherwise, especially James who had used the walk to hiss instructions to Peter and drop an extra pair of beetle eyes into Bellatrix's Potion.

'James, I saw you,' Lily said as they walked out.

James froze, 'Saw me doing what?'

'Helping Peter,' she said, a little uncomfortably.

'Oh, that. Yes, I did help him. I didn't want his potion to blow up and destroy anyone else's. I was really doing us all a huge favour.' Sirius and Remus laughed. Peter looked a little embarrassed.

'But it's supposed to test what we've learnt during our years of magical education... you were cheating!' She seemed quite upset by the whole idea.

'No we weren't,' James said easily. 'During his years at Hogwarts, Peter has learned he can always rely on me for help. He used that lesson as an advantage in his exam. Besides, when we get out of school, we're not going to be doing things alone... and isn't that what school's preparing us for; the outside world?'

Lily opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it and sped up so she could ask Alice a question about History of Magic.

* * *

The Defence Against the Dark Arts exam was by far the most difficult. There was an obstacle course with numerous enchantments and creatures that needed to be overcome, a paper of theory questions, several of which were repeats of the O.W.L. questions, about werewolves. Remus left the exam in very high spirits, partially due to the exam and partially because Sirius set a pack of dungbombs off under Snape's chair.

The final part of the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was a duel, with ministry professionals. Sirius, James and Remus all managed to effectively win their duels as did Severus, Bellatrix and Andromeda. Lily did not win her duel, but nor did she lose and neither, surprisingly, did Peter who fared well against the grizzled ministry witch.

'Miss Evans, Mr Potter, may I speak with the two of you for a moment?' Lily was shocked. Standing outside her Charms exam room was Albus Dumbledore.

'Er... sure, professor,' James said with a quick look at Lily. She nodded.

'As you know, your graduation is in a few weeks and as the Heads of the school, I wish for you to write a farewell speech, either joint or individually, I do not mind. Are you able to do that?'

'Yes, sir,' Lily said excitedly, ideas already popping into her head.

'Very well, I shall see you soon, I'm sure,' Dumbledore strode away.

'We're writing individually!' James said, and then dashed off, leaving Lily alone in the corridor.


	47. Chapter 47

'Have you seen Prongs?'Remus and Sirius asked Lily.

'No, I haven't,' she said softly.

Peter looked upset, 'Maybe he's upset, or maybe he ran away!'

'Don't be a prat, Wormy,' Sirius said rolling his eyes, 'Why would Prongs run away?'

'I don't know,' Peter muttered, 'But he's not here is he?'

Remus sighed, 'He's really excited about his address to the school... I'm actually really worried about what he's going to write, because he refused to let any of us help him with it.'

'Really?' Lily asked. She had been certain he would ask for help.

'Yes, but this is Prongs we're talking about, he'll probably get up there, announce his love for you to the entire school and sit down again, grinning like the world's biggest prat. He doesn't really need much help with that...' Sirius added. Lily groaned; Sirius knew James better than anyone and she had a feeling he was right about James' speech.

'How's your address going?' Remus asked, peering over Lily's shoulder to look at her parchment.

She shrugged. 'I think it'll be good enough. A bit boring maybe, but these things always are...'

* * *

'Lily!' Lily stopped and turned uneasily; she knew that voice. She turned to face Severus Snape who was leering down at her, 'Can I talk to you?'

'You already are,' she said coldly. She would never forgive him for calling her "Mudblood".

'Right, er... well I wanted to know if we'll stay in contact you know, after school's finished?'

Lily was too taken aback to answer for a moment and then she said, 'Why would we, Sev? This is the first time we've spoken in months.'

Severus took a deep breath and pushed some of his greasy hair out of his face, 'So, we were friends once. Can't we be friends again? Please?'

Lily appraised him for a moment and her face softened a little, 'I would like that, but I don't know if it will work... Your friends are all Death Eaters. You're a Death Eater. You hurt people! What you said to me... and I was trying to help and-'

'I know,' he said quickly, 'And I'm so sorry. You have no idea how much I've regretted everything. I don't want to graduate with you hating me.'

'I don't hate you, Sev. I just hate the choices you've made... I don't know if us being friends again will work... we're so different now.'

'Severus!' shouted a woman from down the corridor. Walking toward them was Narcissa Rosier. 'What are you doing, you said you'd be back hours ago.'

'I've been talking to Lily,' he said coolly. He was clearly annoyed.

'What would you want with Potter's Mudblood?' she asked puzzled, tossing her long blonde hair.

'None of your business,' he muttered. Lily's anger flared; he had just said he regretted ever calling her that, yet here he was standing by as she was insulted.

'I don't think it will work,' Lily said a little sadly. Mostly, she was angry.

Severus looked up frowning and yelled, 'So what, you'll run back to Potter instead?'

'Not that it concerns you, Sev, but yes, that is exactly where I am going.'

As she stalked away, she couldn't help but think it would have been nice if they could have been friends again.

* * *

'One week, Lils!' Alice said eagerly from her four poster bed one night. 'Aren't you excited?'

'Yes, but I'm going to miss it here,' Lily said softly.

'Me too, but guess what? Frank and I are going to buy a house together! We've talked about it and everything.'

'That's great, Alice!' Lily squealed, rolling off her bed to hug her best friend. 'Where?'

'We're not sure yet. Godrics Hollow would be nice, but I don't think Frank's very keen on that idea... I guess it doesn't matter as long as we're together... What are you and James doing? Any plans?'

'No,' Lily said a little surprised. 'We've talked about heaps of things, but not that...'

'Are you nervous about your speech?'

Lily shook her head, grinning. 'No, I've finished it... It's James' I'm worried about because he won't let anyone –marauders included– read it. He invoked Rule three.'

'What?'

'Never mind,' Lily said smiling.

* * *

'Hey, guys?'

'Yes, Moony?' Peter asked. The four marauders were lying on their beds, in their dorm, staring at the ceiling.

''I've been thinkin-'

'There's something that's never happened before!' Sirius said sarcastically.

'Sorry, mate,' James said tossing a pillow at Sirius. 'What were you saying?'

'I think the Map should stay here, once we've graduated.' Three pairs of furious eyes stared at the werewolf. 'For the next generation of marauders.'

'That's actually not a bad idea,' Sirius said thoughtfully.

'Of course it's not. Moony thought of it,' James said rolling his eyes. 'Can you pass me my pillow.'

'Er... sure? Why?' Sirius tossed it back to James who grinned and threw it back, hitting the shaggy haired marauder square in the face. 'Oww! Immature git,' Sirius muttered, amusement shining in his stormy eyes. Remus and Peter caught each other's eye then looked away grinning.

'I say we leave it with Filch!' Sirius said suddenly.

'What?' Remus and Peter shouted. 'Padfoot, you've lost it!'

'No he hasn't,' James said watching Sirius with a small smile. 'Explain, Paddy.'

Sirius grinned. James always understood, even when the others didn't. 'If we leave it with Filch, then only a true troublemaker will be able to get his or her hands on it. We can enchant the map to ask them questions that would deem the new owner suitable or not. You know, the same way it knows when to insult or compliment people.'

Comprehension dawned in Remus' brown eyes. 'Yes. That could work, but what if Filch tries to destroy it?'

'That squib wouldn't dare,' Peter snarled.

The other three exchanged worried looks at his attitude but then said, 'He'd keep it. You know Filch, he likes to catalogue everything and we've warded the Map to make it last longer than normal parchment. I don't think there's a lot he could do...'

* * *

'You need a bigger cloak, Jamie,' Sirius whined as Peter stepped on his foot.

'Shh!' Remus hissed. James smiled at him gratefully, but couldn't help but agree that the four of them no longer fit as easily as they used to.

'I think we should all be touching it,' James said, 'and let go on the count of three.' Each marauder held a corner of the much loved Map.

'One,' Sirius said.

'Two,' Remus said.

'Three,' they breathed, letting the Map fall into the box labelled "Confiscated and Highly Dangerous".

A loud snore came from the next room. Sirius swore. 'Let's go, guys!' Peter whispered. He started to sniff.

'Pete, we know it's sad and all... but are you crying!' James, Remus and Sirius began to laugh, though they too were sad about the occasion. Peter smiled grimly; he was _never _going to live this down.


	48. Chapter 48

Lily took a deep breath and looked out at her assembled audience. The entire school as well as the families of the seventh years were sitting on conjured chairs in the Hogwarts grounds, by the lake, watching her and James at the podium. Lily could make out her parents, and shockingly, Petunia and Vernon at the back of the crowd. James smiled encouragingly. Lily took another deep breath.

'Wow,' she said, flinching a little at her magically amplified voice, 'what a year we've had. I know this line must be used at every graduation speech, but it honestly does feel like yesterday that we first got off the Hogwarts Express in our too big robes and were Sorted.

'I can name so many "firsts" I've had at this school; the first letter from Hogwarts, meeting my first friend Alice, being late for our first Charms lesson because we got lost, James Potter first asking me out, the first time I turned him down,' Sirius and Remus laughed in the front row, 'the first detention the students ever received, the first piece of homework we ever got back, the first Christmas break, the first exams, the first year being over... and suddenly, here we are. It's the last week of seventh year and we are faced with yet another first.' Several students looked confused.

'I am of course referring to our first time leaving school, our first time on our own, away from the supervision of teachers.' Lily smiled a little sadly. 'This is not the end. It is the beginning.'

Silence followed her words. 'Thank you for listening, I'll hand over to James now.'

James grinned, and walked easily toward the podium, holding in his hand his mysterious speech. 'Thanks, Lils,' he said. 'So, when Professor Dumbledore came to us and said "you need to write a speech" a million ideas came to mind. Some of them were brilliant, some of them boring, some of them confusing. Then I realised I would not be where I am today without several people, so I believe some thank you's are in order, as well as some congratulation and apologies.' He held the attention of everyone gathered.

'Firstly, I would like to thank all of you, yes, everyone here today because you have been wonderful prank subjects, duelling opponents and sources of amusement. I can quite honestly say, that without you all, my time here would have been very boring.

'To my fan-clubs. You have taught me two things; firstly, that no matter how badly I screw up, someone will still love me, so thank you. You also taught me that there is something out there more annoying and persistent than Sirius Black, so thank you for that as well, because you put things in perspective for me.' Most of the audience laughed, though a few Hufflepuff fourth years looked confused as to whether he was complimenting them, or insulting them.

'To the House-Elves of Hogwarts. Thank you for the excellent food during meal times, and also during the early hours of the morning, when we were hungry. Thank you for exceeding at you jobs, and thank you for the reverence, because sometimes, it's just nice to be bowed at when you walk into a room.

'To the teachers, I would like to thank you for showing me the value of never giving up; you dealt with so many of my rule breaches yet never once did you hesitate in giving me a detention in the hope it would turn me from my mischievous ways. That said, I would also like to say thank you for showing me that doing the right thing, like giving me detention, can seem pointless, cause let's face it; I'm just going to do it again tomorrow,' Sirius laughed. 'Yet there can be no debate that I deserved those many hours scrubbing floors and filing records for doing the wrong thing, and you were determined to show me that. You also taught me that no one is above the rules, no matter how superios, old or intelligent you may be. You showed me this when Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Slughorn consented to do a detention for breaking the rules.

'I must also thank you teachers for everything you have taught me, both in lessons and out. Your constant vigilance brought out my true potential in both school work and also in my ability to cause trouble. Your hawk-like supervision helped me to find new ways to break rules, and also to find the loopholes that a lesser student, with lesser teachers, may have missed.' Professor McGonagall was crying loudly in the first row.

'To Professor McGonagall, Minnie, if I may-'

'You most certainly may NOT!' McGonagall shouted thickly, sounding as if she had a head cold.

'All right. To the wonderful Head of Gryffindor house. Thank you for changing my detention times so I could still play on the Quidditch team and thank you for never expelling me even though you must have wanted to. Thank you for teaching me that there are two sides to people, take yourself for example; there is the powerful Head of house that needs to be feared, and then there is the motherly woman who panics when students go missing and who tries to hand out relationship advice.

'To Professor Dumbledore. Thank you for believing in second chances. Thank you for not letting stupid prejudices against halfbreeds stop a boy from receiving a magical education, just because it was a little dangerous. Thank you for knowing remorse when you see it, and not expelling my best friend, even though his actions showed he deserved it.'

'To my parents. Though they no longer live on in this world, death is only the beginning and I am sure that they are living on somewhere, watching me at this moment. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for all the half-hearted Howlers you sent me when I broke a rule, thank you for opening up our house to my brothers, and for adopting Sirius when he needed it. Thank you for all the support you gave me.' James paused to brush away a tear and then said in a strangled voice, 'I hope I have made you proud.' He was quiet for a moment, and everyone wondered if he had finished when he began to talk again.

'To my brothers in crime, the marauders. Thank you for befriending the scrawny, specky git on the Hogwarts Express and making his time at Hogwarts fun. Thank you for not teasing me when I was homesick, thank you for helping me when I needed it, and having the humility to accept help when I could give it. Thank you for sticking by me, through everything, and also for abiding by the Code'

'Group hug!' Sirius and Remus shouted.

'Black, Lupin! Sit down! You too Pettigrew!' The three sat down, grinning at James and each other. Sirius stuck his tongue out at McGonagall when she wasn't looking. Dumbledore saw, and chuckled quietly to himself.

'To Peter Pettigrew. You have shown me that size does not matter, and that at times, smaller is better. Thank you, Wormtail, for making me laugh, and for being my friend. Thank you for curing me of my phobia of rats.' Peter burst into noisy tears. Lily laughed, her face streaked with the tears that had begun to fall within seconds of James' speech.

'Thank you to Remus Lupin, for being my conscience and at least trying to teach me right from wrong. Thank you, Moony, for putting up with me and Sirius for seven years. Thank you for showing me that there are some things that cannot be cured, but that there will always be another way to make it easier, if you look for it. Thank you for teaching me that people are usually more than they seem, after-all, how can such a nice, quiet boy have such a badly behaved rabbit? I am sorry that bad things happen to good people but hope I have showed you that good things can happen to good people too and that trust is not a bad thing. Thank you for showing me, that compared to you, I have nothing to complain about. Thank you for being there to get me to St Mungos.' Remus beamed, tears forming in his brown eyes.

'To Sirius Black. You are a prat, and a git, and annoying and you are my brother, and my best friend. Thank you for always understanding me, even when no one else did. Thank you for showing me that people are not born bad because they have bad families. Thank you for showing me the importance of choices. Thank you for standing by my in duels and in the detentions we got for starting the duels. Thank you for not being afraid to see me as I am. Thank you for being there, the night my parents died, and for not letting me get killed when I couldn't think straight. Thank you for putting up with the "Serious" jokes. Thank you for being the little voice that said "Do it, Prongs, even if Lily won't like it and Moony said it's stupid". Thank you for having my back and thank you, last of all, for having the humility to come to me and tell you what you had done, before it was too late.

'To Lily Evans. Thank you for showing me that persistence pays off, and that if I keep asking you out, you will eventually get tired and just say yes. Thank you for not being afraid to tell me when I'm being a prat, and for being able to jinx me when I deserved it. Thank you for succeeding where everyone else failed; you got me to deflate my head and by doing that, you made me into what I have always wanted to be; You made me into someone you could love.' Remus and Sirius made pretend-gagging noises, and then the sound of a whip and then laughed and cheered loudly. Most of the girls in the school went, "Awwwwww!"

'To Seeverus Snape, also known as Snivellus. I don't like you, I never have, and I never will.' Lots of people laughed, Remus, Peter and Sirius included, but many people like Lily and Snape frowned, wondering where this was going. 'You have insulted Lily, but I also have it on good confidence that you regret it, even if you don't seem able to show it yet. For that I thank you, because you have shown me that people are not all bad, even if they seem like it. I would also like to thank you for all of the duelling practice because you were a worthy opponent.' Sirius made a noise of disgust. 'I would also like to apologise for everything I have put you through these past seven years, not because I regret my actions - I don't - but because I know it must have been hard for you and because apologising seems like the right thing to do. I would also like to tell you that I do not regret stopping Sirius in fifth year.

'To Regulus Black, thank you for showing me that Slytherins are not above regretting their choices. Thank you for also showing me that doing the right thing often comes with a price, but that that does not mean it should not be done anyway. Wherever you are now, thank you for showing me that people other than Gryffindors can be brave.

'Now, onto a lighter topic. I believe some congratulations are in order. I would like a show of hands as to who has never been pranked by me, or any other marauder.' Several people scattered throughout the audience raised their hands. 'Stand up, please.' They did so, cautiously. James began to clap, 'That is truly an accomplishment, might I ask all of you to come up here. I have a gift for you all... A prize, some might say.'

About fifteen people extracted themselves from their rows and made their way up to where James was standing. He presented them each with a small box each and said, 'Now, will you please open it?'

They did so, and out of each box sprayed a jet of brightly colour paint into the face of its holder, and minute fireworks, that exploded around each victim's head. The audience and James laughed. 'I apologise for the necessity of that, but we couldn't leave without pranking everyone,' he explained. He then addressed the disgruntled looking students, 'You will actually find a sizeable quantity of Honeydukes produce in there too, and you should know that you are among the last people to be pranked by James Potter while he was at Hogwarts.' The students sat down again, looking happier.

'I would like to give some advice to the rest of you, who are not graduating today, and that is learn where the line is as quickly as possible, and then spend your remaining time toeing it. This is a rule that can relate to anything and I as well as Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail can attest to the truth and usefulness of it.

'Lastly, I would like to invite my fellow Head over here,' James held out his hand to Lily, who took it. 'She has been amazing this year, and I can honestly say that without her, I would've been useless as Head Boy. I think she deserves a round of applause.' Lily cried when the entire school stood and gave her a standing ovation, though she suspected some of the applause was for James' brilliant speech.


	49. Chapter 49

'Thank you, but as her fellow Head, I have one more favour to ask of her.' Lily frowned at him, when he let go of her hand and took a step away. She worried about what he might have planned, and was even more worried when she saw the huge grins spread across the three marauders faces in the front row.

'Lily,' James said in a clear voice. He sank onto one knee in a fluid motion and said, 'Will you marry me?' He pulled a small red box out of his robes and opened it. Nestled inside was a simple but elegant white-gold ring, adorned with a gleaming diamond. The entire school was silent. Sirius looked as though he might burst, but Lily had eyes only for James' slightly nervous face.

'Yes! I will, James!' she said tearfully. He stood, beaming, and slipped the ring onto her hand. She quite literally jumped on him, hugging him and still crying. He kissed her and the school went wild, cheering and wolf-whistling. Lily heard Alice's distinctive scream of joy and Sirius, Remus and Peter dashed onto the stage to hug the two Heads. Minutes later, Lily's parents joined them and hugged her tightly, shouting congratulations.

* * *

The younger students had been sent back to the castle, but the seventh years remained out in the sun-lit grounds with their guests and families.

'Where's Wormtail?' Sirius muttered as he, Remus, James and Lily tried to avoid his mother, who was scanning the masses with sharp eyes. 'Oh, Merlin! She saw us- Hi, Mother!'

'Getting married are you?' Mrs Black said nastily to James. 'To this Mudblood? Well at least Sirius had the sense to cut her loose. I wouldn't trust her if I were you. She was dating him at Regulus' funeral. I saw them there together.'

'Good for you,' Sirius said grumpily. 'Why are you here? Doesn't the sun burn you or something?'

Mrs Black shrieked something indignant and Remus, Lily and James left Sirius to his mother. 'He can handle it,' Remus said cheerfully, and then frowned. 'Where is Peter? His parents are talking to my mother and he wasn't with them...'

They found Peter talking to a tall pale man, dressed in a long, black cloak. He was in his thirties Lily guessed, and looked as if he'd once been handsome, though now he was bald and had rather disconcerting eyes, which looked red when the sun caught them.

'So have you decided? Remember the opportunities I can provide,' they heard the man hiss.

'I'll do it,' Peter said in a surprisingly strong voice.

'Hi, Wormtail!' James called brightly. Peter and the man jumped, the first looking rather guiltily at his friends.

'Hi... this is my er... Uncle,' Peter said shrilly, his watery eyes darting to the man's face and back again.

'Nice to meet you,' Remus said cautiously. Sirius arrived behind them, and stared at Peter's Uncle with dislike.

'Tom... Gaunt,' the pale man said coolly, his eyes scanning their faces. He did not offer his hand.

'Gaunt?' James said with interest. He knew most of the Pure-blood families and was sure the Gaunt line was extinct.

'Aren't you all dead?' Sirius asked, with a little less tact than was necessary.

The man drew himself up, his eyes flashing scarlet. Lily shivered and shrunk into James' side. 'I am the last remaining descendant,' he hissed. 'I will be in contact with you, Wormtail.' Peter nodded hastily as the Tom strode away.

'Creepy,' Sirius said, thoughfully. 'I'd hate it if my Uncle called me "Padfoot". It's a marauders name, not a family name.'

Peter's eyes darted around. He looked very uncomfortable. 'I'm going to find my parents,' he squeaked, and scurried off.

'Weird...' Remus said, his eyes following Peter. 'Speaking of names though, are we allowed to call you Mrs Potter?'

James beamed. It took Lily a moment to realise they were talking to her. 'Oh, umm... I suppose so.' Remus and Sirius' evil smiles made Lily regret that decision.

James laughed and hugged her, 'Lily Potter,' he whispered into her fiery hair. 'I like the sound of that.'

'We're not married yet,' she reminded him gently, but she was grinning too.

'But we will be!' James crowed. He still had a goofy smile on his face. Lily giggled and kissed him.

'I can't believe it's over,' Remus said, with a melancholy not in his voice. 'Two more nights left here to say goodbye.'

'Yeah, but one of them's a full moon,' Sirius said cheerfully pointing at the rising moon, 'a fitting way to say goodbye if you ask me.'

James and Remus nodded.


	50. Chapter 50

'James,' Lily murmured.

'Hmmm?' James looked up from his conversation with Remus and Sirius.

'I love you.'

'I love you too,' he said grinning. Lily kissed James. She was kissing him the same way he had kissed her to get out of detention for blowing up Snape's cauldron; slowly, teasingly. James groaned against her mouth. She climbed into his lap, pressing him against back of the armchair, continuing to kiss him until they were both panting.

Sirius and Remus had both been looking away pointedly but now the latter asked, 'Are you two done, or should we just leave?'

'Done,' James said, looking pleased with himself, at the same time as Lily said, 'Leave.' The couple looked at each other and laughed.

'Stay, guys,' James said. 'Lils will behave.' He grinned at her again as he looked at the ring on her finger.

Sirius followed his gaze, and sniggered. 'Moony, cough up.'

'What?'

'He was looking at it again. That's the ninth time in an hour. I win.' Remus grumbled a little and passed Sirius a galleon.

'Were you two taking bets?' Lily asked.

'Yes,' James laughed. 'I've been helping Paddy win.'

'What?' Remus said laughing, 'No wonder! I've been losing money by the handfuls!' He turned to the shaggy haired marauder, 'Give me my money back. You've been cheating.'

'Nope!' Sirius said cheerfully, 'We never agreed on how it would happen, only that it would, which means it's still valid!'

Remus sighed, a smile pulling at his mouth, 'Fine,' he said. 'Keep it. But I get to be best man.'

James caught Lily's eye and grinned. Sirius blinked, thinking it through. 'No! Here, take it, take it all back!' He started pelting galleons at the sandy haired marauder, who was laughing.

'Jamie! I get to be best man, right?' Sirius said a little hysterically, quite upset he hadn't asked this question earlier.

'I was planning for you both to be best men.'

'There's only one,' Lily and Remus protested.

'So?' Sirius said. 'When has Prongs ever followed traditions? While we're handing out roles, can I be Godfather too?'

'To what child, Sirius?' Lily asked.

'Yours.'

'What?' James asked. 'What child? How can you be pregnant? We haven-' James reddened at the smirk on Sirius' face.

'I mean in the future,' Sirius said airily.

'Who would give you responsibility of a child?' Remus asked, 'You'll probably be in Azkaban by the time you're twenty.'

'Will not!' Sirius said childishly. 'What could I possibly do to land myself in prison?'

'You might kill your mother,' James suggested evenly.

'True, but that's not a crime, that's a service to the Wizarding Community of Britain,' Sirius said with conviction. 'I have to admit though "Sirius Black, murderer" has a nice ring to it.'

'If you kill Kreacher with your mother, you can be "Sirius Black, mass murderer",' Remus added thoughtfully. He didn't sound like he much liked the idea though.

'Nah,' James said, noticing how Sirius was paling at the talk of murder, 'I think "Sirius Black, Auror" sound pretty good.'

Sirius grinned and nodded, 'That it does. So can I be Godfather?'

'Remus, don't want the job do you?' Lily asked hopefully.

Remus laughed, 'Any kid of yours would be a nightmare to keep track of. Flying by age one, using the Cloak by two, and an Animagus by three... No thanks, I think "Uncle Remus" sounds better.'

'You heard Moony, I get the job!' Sirius shouted.

'Only by default,' James laughed, running a hand through his messy hair.

'I live for winning by default,' Sirius sniffed, amusement shining in his stormy eyes.

* * *

'Why isn't Peter here?' Lily asked nervously.

'Wormtail wasn't with us when we arrived, so the sentimental value of the situation would be lost on him; We are leaving in the exact same way we arrived, a fitting end I think, ' Sirius said proudly.

'You're taking the school boats?' she asked.

'Sort of,' James said.

'We're actually swimming,' Remus said grimly.

'What?'

Remus sighed. 'When we got off the Hogwarts Express, I had the delight of boating with these two,' he jerked his thumb at James and Sirius, whose faces were lit with boyish excitement. 'They decided they wanted to meet the Giant Squid, so they capsized our boat.'

'Didn't Hagrid or someone pull you out?' Lily asked.

'No, we had it planned,' Sirius said happily, 'We were hanging around at the back of the fleet, paddling really slowly, then, about two hundred metres from the castle, we tipped.'

Lily smacked James and then Sirius, 'You prats!'

'It was a great bonding experience,' he said shrugging. 'We were best friends by the time we made it to dinner.'

'It was Remmy's fault,' Sirius said, rubbing his arm. Lily cocked an eyebrow, looking at her soon-to-be-husband and his best friend. 'He's the one who told us there was a Giant Squid.'

Lily laughed, looking at Remus, '"Hogwarts, A History"?'

He nodded, 'I am also the reason they knew about the House Elves in the kitchens... I don't regret sharing that information though.' He grinned at his friends who looked into the distance reminiscently. 'Shall we go?' The dark haired marauders nodded eagerly.

Lily kissed James tenderly, 'I'll see you on the train.'

'That you will,' he murmured, kissing her back, 'Save me a seat?'

'Come on lover-boy,' Sirius said impatiently, grabbing the back of James' robes and pulling him away. 'We'll see you soon Mrs Potter.' He tipped an imaginary hat. Remus laughed and waved at her.

Lily watched in amusement as the three of them clambered into the too-small boat and rowed it out into the centre of the lake.

She heard Remus say, 'Hey, do you think that was the Giant Squid?'

And heard James reply, 'There's a Giant Squid? Cool!' She knew his hazel eyes would be shining in pretend-amazement.

The three of them laughed and then she noticed James and Sirius start to rock the boat. Remus was clutching his wand and then, James and Sirius were levitated out of the boat. They landed in the water with a splash. Sirius swore loudly, 'What was that for?'

'If I'd known how to levitate things when we arrived, this is how things would have happened,' Remus replied, laughing.

'Accio Remus!' James cried. Lily laughed as poor Remus was pulled from the boat and into the water beside his best friends. Despite all of them being soaked already, they were shooting jets of water at each other out of the tips of their wands.

_What a year, _Lily thought, looking down at her engagement ring, _some things have certainly changed! _She smiled as she looked out at the lake at her almost-husband being childish with his two friends, _And I suppose some things never will._

**~~~~~~~ THE END ~~~~~~~**


End file.
